390                                         T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEARER

gelijk is.  En,op dat Hem welbehagelijke gebed zal Hij           THE INSTITUTION OF CHRIST'S CHURCH
ons ook arbeiders schenken, opdat de velden  geoogst mo-
gen  worden;                                                     Our previous articles constituted an attack upon  G.
       Bidt dan den Heer des oogstes, dat Hij arbeiders in    Hoeksema's system of Church government-a system
Zijnen wijngaard uitstoote.                                   described by him in a booklet bearing the title "Can A
                                                     H. H.    Classis Depose A Consistory?" The fallacies of at least
                                                              some of the principles incorporated in this system were
                                                              exposed. It appeared that the  thought-strticture  reared
                 EEN DOEL VAN  ALL&                           by G. Hoeksema must not be taken as a model or pat-
                                                              tern for the institution of Christ's Church. We labored
            Wat wy, stervelingen, lijden,                     to show that in those circles where Hoeksema's ma-
              LVat ons toekomt, is van HEM,                   chinery of church government is set in motion, religious
              Wiens in `t hart gevoelde stem                  liberty  must needs become a mockery and a by-word.
              Ons met meer dan donderklem                        This article is the first of -a series in which we shall
           Toeroe& Hem dat. hart te wijden,                   attempt to show how the `framework of the Church
              Dat, hoe `t  zich aan  dies Meeft,              should be constructed and what principles it mudt be
              Nergens rust of steunsel heeft.                 made to exhibit, shall it meet with the approval of Christ.
                                                              We want to learn from Scripture what the machinery of
            CC'oelen, wroeten, kruipen,  draven               church government  mai be that Christ would have in-
              Door dit nietig aardsche draf;                  stalled in His Church. Surely not that of which a spite-
              Grijpen naar een  handvol  kaf;                 ful clique, bent on grinding out of the Church a man or
              Om den clorren boord van  `t graf;              group of men  not desired, may, to good advantage, avail
            Lijf- en zielvermoeiend slaven  ;                 itself of. Finally, we want to know what relation the
              Alles -- roept ons: Heft het oog                one local church should be made'to sustain to the other ;
             Tot het middelpunt omhoog!                       how the various churches constituting a denomination
                                                              should be connected. The character of this coalition and
            Wat,  oL stervling, is uw leven?                  the principles governing it must be made matters of in-
              Eindloos zoeken naar de rust;                   vestigation.
             Altijd  op en neer gehutst,                         As to the frame-work of the Church-its organization
              Nu in woeligheid van lust,                      -the question arises whether one finds in Holy Writ a
            Dan door zorg of angst gedreven,                  so-called model-organization exhibiting a form to which
              Met een hart dat, nooit verzaad,                the frame-work of  avy present-day local church institu-
              Altijd naar iets anders staat                   tion must conform. Our answer is an affirmative one.
                                                              Holy Writ does provide us with a model. However,
           Vruchteloos is al `t beproeven                     whereas the form of the institution of the Church of
              Van wat heel dezc aard bezit.                   Sacred History changed as often as this Church would
              Hoe  uw boezem  rich verhitt',                  approach the bounderies of a succeeding epoch, we. are
              Uw bestaan heeft hooger wit:                    compelled to make a selection.
            God i`s `t al wat wy behoeven,                       In the Old dispensation  the, body of the Church  was
              Niets dan Hy vernoegt het hart,                 without a substantial, independent institution of its own.
              INaar vervulling opgespard.                     In the period from Adam to Moses the Church was pro-5
                                                              jetted, so to sap. into a form of manifestation known  as
            Hiervan  schenkt Hy u  `t gevoelen:               Patriarchal.    The Church and the family were one.
              Hiertoe spoort u alles  aan ;                   Hence, as to the sons and daughters of the patriarchal
              Faalt de hoop, misleidt de waan,                age; their being members of the family, at once consti-
              Kronkelt  zich des levens baan,                 tuted them members of the  church  organization of that
            Wart ge  u vast in eigen  woelen;                 day. And the father was, in virtue of his being the spirit-
              `t  Is de erkentnis u ontprest,                 ual leader of his family, a shepherd in the Church. The
              Dat geene aard de heildorst lescht.             Church and the family, then, were one.
                                                                 However, immediately after the exodus the body of
            Wat dnn  langer  om te zwervcn                    the Church was fitted, so to say, into  a new form of
              Door des  wareIds  hobbelzee                    manifestation, namely that of the theocratic state made
              `In een steeds vernieuwend wee?                 to appear for the. purpose of  displtiying,  as a type, the
              Voor  onze  oogen  iigt  de ree'                peculiar properties of the Kingdom of Heaven. Until
            Waar wy `t eeuwig goed verwerven ;                the advent of Christ, the Church is identified with the
              `t Eenig, onafhanklijk  goed:                   theocracy. Church  and state are one. He being a
              God in `t wroegingvrij gemoed!                  citizen of the theocratic state was at once a member of
                                      -Mr. W. Bilderdijk      Church. Those from without attaching themselves to


i
                                              T H E   S T A N D A R D  EErtRER                                                    391

      the Church of that day, did so by permitting themselves           a local affair. In the beginning there was but one such
      to be taken up into the Commonwealth of Israel.  He               institution located at Jerusalem. Soon there were several
      whom the state cast off, had to consider himself expelled         more. True to his calling the apostle Paul, a debtor bbth
      from the Church. Church discipline was exercised by               to  the  JCWS  and to the gentiles,  proc1aime.d  far and wide
      the king in the name of God. Says the psalmist David:             the Gospel of Redemption. His preaching, applied by the
      "A froward heart shall depart from me: I will not know            Spirit, had the  effect  of drawing out of the world the
      a wicked person. Whoso privily  slandereth  his neigh-            chosen ones of his day. Each local group of believers
      bor, him will I cut off: him that  ,hath a high look and a        was told to assert itself as an organization. So it did.
      proud heart'will I not suffer . . . . . I will early destroy      Thus it happened that in various places of the known
      all the wicked of the land; that I may cut off all wicked         world of that day the body of Christ was seen garbed in
      doers from the city of  fhe Lord"  (Ps.  101  :3, 5,  8). Fur-    a form of manifestation identical to that of the church
      ther, the prophet was at once a statesman. The affairs            at Jerusalem. Hence, any one of these New Testament
      of the state (such as the removal of the seat of govern-          organizations presents a form in which the body of Christ
      ment to Jeiusalem)  were at once those of the Church. &           must everywhere be seen.
      th6 other hand, the king builds the, temple and officiates           We shall now approach one of these local institutions
      upon the occasion of its dedication  (KingSolomon).               and view it nearby. We do so for the purpose of ascer-
         It was the exalted Christ who loosed the Church from           taining its constituent elements. Doing so, what do we
      the theocratic state of the old dispensation and gave it          see? A community of believers  shgpherded  by a pastor
      a new form having normative value and this of necessity           (the present day minister of the gospel), supervised by
      as Christ builds His Church and determines how  Mis               a bishop (the ruling elder), and administered  ro  by the
      body shall manifest itself in this world and in the world         deac.on (or deacons).
      to come. Whereas the promise that in Abraham all the                 Concerning this organization many questions arise
      nations of the earth shall be blessed, was about to be            which we shall state and answer as we proceed. Let us
      fulfilled, the change had to be made. `As was before              set out by facing the question: Why is a community of
      said, in the old dispensation the Church was identified           believers ordered to organize, to project itself, so to say,
      with a certain state. Consequently it had to be' confined         as' an institution? And the answer is ready: For the
      to a certain place and limited to a certain race. The             purpose of exhibiting the peculiar properties of Christ
     Church, however, was destined, to express ourselves in             and His body-the believers. (This is at least tine of the
     the words of the Confession, to be spread and dispersed            purposes.) Any ecclesiastical institution, not serving this
     over the whole world. God had decreed to redeem sinners            purpose, is not the kind of garb in which the body of
     out of every kindred and tongue and people and nation              Christ should, be seen.
      (Rev. 5 :9>. Christ took his seat at God's right hand for            Thus, we distinguish between the body of Christ as
     the purpose of realizing this divine decree. The Church            such (church as organism) and this body assuming a
      loosening itself from the old theocratic state and assert-        visible form (Church as institution). The latter is re-
     ing  itseIf as an independent organization signified that          lated to the former as form and essence. Any body, ,let
     Christ exalted had begun to realize the aforesaid decree.          ft. be repeated, to be true to its character and purpose
         In the fulness of time, then, the church stepped forth         must'visibly  reveal itself as it is in essence.
     as a substantial institution.     hTo longer may the civil            It is well, I think, that we pause to define the terms
     ruler, as did Constantine the Great,  contro1  the affairs         argaxism  and  institution.   An organism  .is a body whose
     of the Church; determine its policies and function as its          activities and  gfowth must be explained from an inner
     head, Nor must the Church meddle with the affairs of life-principle of which it (the body) is the seat but not
      the state, strive to become the power behind its throne,          the source. An institution is a systematic union of indi-
     and take to its heart its interests.       Doing so it-the         viduals working together for a common end.            These
     .Church-is  again identifying itself with the state-yea  a         definitions will be expounded presently.
     Itate;  limiting itself to a race and to a place. `Doing so,          The Church as institution, then, is the systematic
     once more, the Church is making it impossible for itself           union of the members of the body of Christ working to-
     to function as the Church universal commissioned by its            gether for a common good. The institution, let it be re-
     King-the Christ-to preach the Gospel unto all nations,             peated, is the body projected and must display the prop-
     and to minister unto th,e needs of all men. Hence, there erties peculiar to the body.
     must be no flag in the Church, neither in time of war nor             What, now, does Scripture say of this body? Holy
     in time of peace.                                                  rWrit informs us among other things that this body,  ro-
         The New Testament Church, then, was separated gether  with Christ its head, constitutes a kingdom;  jb)
     . from the Th_eocratic  state by Christ and made to mani-          that this body, together with Christ its head constitutes
     fest itself everywhere as an independent institution. The          an organism.
     final clause of the sentence  immediateIy   preceeding  im-           Let us listen to Scripture. Col.  1:13, Who (God the
     plies that although there is but one body of Christ, dis-          Father) hath delivered us-from the power of darkness,
     persed over the whole world, the church as institution is
                          .                                             and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear son.


392                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   H E A R E R

       That the Church with Christ as its heaa  is an organ-       not those of the eye and the ear as such, bur first of all
ism is the plain teaching of the allegory of the vine and          of the organism  kan, so that, let us say, the loss of an
the' branches. John  1:1-S,   "I (Christj am the true vine,        eye does not relieve it from its duty or task to see. It
and my Father is the husbandman.  .Every branch in me              means  rhat these tasks are inherent in the organism. .
that.beareth  not fruit, He taketh away : and every branch            Further, if the entire body is heaithy, there will be
that  hearth  fruit, He purgeth it that it may bring forth         perfect co-ordination between the various members. Each
more fruit . . , . Abide in me and I in you. As the branch         member will obey the mandates of its king, the head. A
cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine ; no      member diseased, however, refuses to function when the
more can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the vine, ye              head speaks.
are the branches: he that abideth in me, and I in him,                Finally, peculiar to an organism is that its  various
the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye              members are the outgrowths, be it indirectly, of an orig-
can do nothing."                                                   inal cell. Not so the various parts of a lifeless machine.
       Let us now direct our attention to the above notices        These are assembled and fitted together.  Thus  the hu-
of Scripture respecting the body of the Church. It  con-           man race constitutes an organism.  Its various members
stitures with Christ a kingdom at once exhibiting all the          are the offspring of one man--Adam.
peculiarities of an organism. This kingdom, then, is but              How many of the peculiarities enumerated above may
one of its kind;  an.altogether unique phenomenon. 0f              be made-to apply to the body of the Church? This is a
this uniqueness the term  izo131   cwganism   is the significa-    matter for Scripture to determine. Wirh our eye on the
tion. It renders it (this kingdom) one not of this earth.          pages of Holy Writ, let us retrace our steps and deter-
       I.,et us now take  a step forward and lay hold  vn the      mine to what extent an organism such as the vine and its
implication of the term  holy  organism.   An organism we          branches and the human organism man images the
defined as a body whose growth and activities must be              characteristics of the body of the Church. Let it be
explained from an inner life-principle of which  the body          said, in passing that Scripture itself speaks of the Church
is the seat. It means that a body is capable of self-loco-         in terms of the human organism. Says Paul: "For as the
motion.      It can move itself and  is.? therefore, a living body is one, and hath many members, and all the mem-
organism.      In this it differs from  &he machine which          bers of rhat one body, being many, are one body: so
is moved by the application of force foreign to it. This           also is Christ. For by one Spirit are we all baptized into
applies also to the automobile which is pushed ahead by            one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be
gas expanding in its cylinders.                                    bound or free ; and have been all made to drink of one
       -4, organism has still other peculiarities. The human       Spirit. For the body is not one member but many.' If
body (to confine ourselves to the organism man) is con-            the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not
stituted of members (the smallest unit of the body is the          oi` the body; is it therefore not of the body?  PLnd if the
cell) : the eye, the ear and the hand, etc., each having its       ear shall say, because I am not the eye, I am not of the
own function and working together, in the event the body           body ; is it therefore not of the body? If the whole body
is normal;toward a common end. Further, each member                were an eye, where were the hearing? If :he whole were
is vitally connected with that region of the body  wher>           hearing, where were the  smellirig? But now hath God
is located the seat of life. In the human organism this            set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath
region is the head and the trunk. In the very moment of            pleased him. And if they were all one member,  where
the removal of the head, the organism dies. On the other           were the body? . . .  -  . Now ye are  the body  oP Christ
hand, a man lives without feet and hands. In man this              and members in particular"  [I Cor. 12).
life-principal is a personal spiritual substance called soul.         It is very plain that in this chapter, the apostle draws
.41so in this respect, an organism differs from a machine.         a comparison between the human body and the body
It has no region where is located the seat of life-a region        of Christ-the Church. Again the question, to what ex-
with which the various parts are vitally connected.  The           tent may this body be taken as a figure of the body of
machine is without life.        '                                  Christ ?
       Again, of the body the head and, according to                  We set out with the assertion that an organism is a
Scripture, the heart, represent the thinking and willing body whose activities must be explained from an inner
man.      =I'he head and the heart are the organs of               life source or principle of which it, the body, is the seat.
thought and volition. Thus of all the organs, the head             So, too, the body of the Church. It is an organism whose
is the ruler. and the king of the body. The important              activities-the working of miracles, prophecy, discerning
thing  is,  however, that this ruler of the body-the head of spirits, divers kinds of tongues, interpretation of
-is not a foreign addition but an organical member of              tongues, healing (I Car. 12:10)-must be explained from
the body and vitally connected with it.                            an inner life source or principle which is  God.  The seat
       Once more, man is a living organism, functioning.           of this life is Christ. For it pleased the Father that in'
.%mong  other things, he hears, sees and speaks through            Him should all fullness dwell (Col.  139). It (this life)
the instrumentality of the ear, the eye and the organs of          is imparted by the Spirit. Says the apostle: "But all
speech. However, the tasks of seeing and hearing are               these, namely the word of wisdom, ,the word of  knowl-


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/                                                  `1~  1-l E    S T  A  N  D A  R `D     B E :4 R E R
     111---                                                                                                                                 393

     edge, faith, prophesy, worketh that one and the selfsame                       ADVIEZEN   AAN DE SYNODE  DER  CHRISTE-
     Spirit, dividing to every man severally as He will (I Car.                           LIJKE GEREFORMEERDE  KERKEN  _
     12:ll).
         Further, an organism is capable of self-activity. Like-                          Inzake  Verrnakelijkheden (Amusements)
     wise the body of Christ. Its operations, although worked
     by the self same Spirit are nevertheless its own. It is not                     Breed, zeer breed uitgewerkt is het rapport, dat in de
     the Spirit that prophesies but the body. The Spirit work-                   .4genda,   Dee1 I, der te houden Synode der Christelijke
     eth ,prophesy.                                                              Gereformeerde Kerken is  afgedruk.t.  Het beslaat meer
         Again, the human organism is constituted of mem-                        dan een derde van dit  aeel der  -4genda.  De  leden  der
     bers-the eye, the ear, the hand-each having its own                         commissie, die dit  rripport  opstelden, zijn de volgende
     function. Likewise the body of Christ. Let us quote                         personen  : de leeraren E. J. Tuuk, H. J. Kuiper, R.  13.
     Scripture once more. "Now ye are the body of Christ,                        Kuiper; Prof. H.  Schultze; en Oud. H Hekman.  Zeker
     and members in particular. -4nd God has set some in                         een deputaatschap dat we1 voor zijn taak berekend was.
     the Church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly                   En de Commissie heeft dan ook blijkbaar  we1  werk  gc-
     teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps,                maakt van haar opdracht.
     governments."        The aposties, prophets., teachers and                      Er zijn echter  slechts zeer weinig menschen, die zich
     workers of miracles are so many members of the body                         de Agenda hebben aangeschaft. Er  waren enkele  hon-
     of Christ. This is evident from the surroundings of this                    derden van gedrukt.  Ze zijn herhaaldelijk geadverteerd
     passage.-I Cor.  12.                                                        in de kerkelijke bladen. Dr. Beets heeft er nog eens met
         Once more, each member, we said, is vitally connected                   nadruk op aangedrongen, dat de  leden  der  Kerk  zich
     with that region of the body where is located the seat                      deze Agenda tech zouden aanschaffen, vooral ook om dit
     of life. In the human organism this seems to be the rapport  ove~r de Amusements.                              Diets hielp.    Er zijn
     trunk and the head.  .So, too, the body of the Church.                      slechts enkele exemplaren  verkocht.   Wij vinden dat een
     Its seat of life is Christ. The members of the body of                      zeer slecht teeken. "Amusements" is immers het woord,
     the Church are vitally connected  #with Him. Separated                      dat tegenwoordig een brandende kwestie in de kerken
     from Him, they wither and die. Abide in me, says Christ, aanduidt.  Waarom stoort men  zich er dan niet  aan, als
     and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself,                    leiders licht verschaffen in deze gewichtige zaak? Het is
     except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except  ye' een blijk, dat er geen belangstelling is. De Synode kan
     abide in me. I am the vine, ye are the branched. Else-                      straits de dingen  we1 besluiten,  oak  we1 uitspraken doen
     where the-apostle says : "Let no man beguile yo'u of your over wereldsche vermakelijkheden. Dat is  goed.   Daar-
     reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels. voor  komt de Synode immers  samen.                         En ik vrees, dat
     intruding into those things which he hath not seen.                         het volk nu reeds denkt : wat de Sy-node  ook besluite, wij
     vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind,  asd  not  holding   the gaan tech onzen  gang ! Intusschen zal het voor ons noo-
     head   (Christ)   from  which  all  the  body   by  jo-intr   and  bands    dig zijn een eenigszins breede  schets te geven van dit
     having   nourishment   ministered,   and  knit  together,  increaseth       lange rapport, waaraan, zooals we zeiden, veel werk  is
     with   the increase  of God  (Col. 11:  18,19).                             besteed, maar waarmede we het niet eens zijn, en waar-
         -Igain,  the body has its  headithe  organ of thought                   van we oordeelen, dat het om zijn tweeslachtigheid zecr
     and volition, and therefore the ruler of the body. So gevaarlijk is voor de Christelijke Gereformeerde Kerken.
     Christ is head, king, the ruler of his body-the Church.                     De leer der Drie Punten, de verderfelijke Gemeene Gratic
         Further; the organism man sees and hears through                        leer,  ligt  aan het rapport ten grondslag. En op dien
     the instrumentality of organs-the eye and the ear. So grondslag is het ten eenenmale onmogelijk een zuiver en
     the Body of Christ, it prophesies and teaches through its                   gezond standpunt in te nemen ten opzichte der  zooge-
     prophet and teacher. These tasks, however, are first of naamde "amusements."
     all those of the body of the Church and inherent in it, SO
     that even though it should loose for a time its  organs-                        Wet rapport der CommiSsie  bestaat in drie stukken cn
     the prophet and the teacher-the offices would remain.                       ceri inleiding. In de laatste beschrijft de Commissie hare
         Further, if the body of the Church is healthy there                     opvatting van de taak haar toevertrouwd. De drie hoofd-
     will be perfect co-ordination between its various mem- stukken van het eigenlijke rapport zijn  als  volgt  :
     bers. Each will obey the mandates of its head and king                          I. Ontwikkeling der Algemeene Beginselen, die  aan
     -the Christ. A diseased member refuses to funciton and                      de kwestie der vermakelijkheden ten grondslag liggen  :
     must be cut off ere it polutes the &tire body.                                  A. Ook onze vermaken  moeten  zoodanig van aard
         Finally, the members of the body of the Church are                      zijn, dat ze kunnen strekken ter eere Gods.           ,
     the outgrowths of Christ the head in the sense that they                        De  mensch. is geschapen om Zijn God te  verheerlij-
     derive from him the life which constitutes them new crea- ken ; en hij wordt van zijn zonde verlost om dit oorspron-
     tures. The branches are the outgrowths of the vine.  A4t                    kelijk doe1 weer te kunnen bereiken. Met het oog  OP  de
     the same time, these members arc God's workmanship                          kwestie van de "amusements"  volgt uit dit  hoofdbegin-
                                                                                                                                       .
     created in Christ Jesus.                                    G. M. 0.        se1 :


                                        T  II  E    S T A `N I:) A R D    B E h R E R

 maak hebben in de dingen  der wereld, aan te merken als          down upon them this great favour from the Lord.
 geestelijk dooden en vervreemd van het leven Christi,  en           They had occupied no prominent place beside the
 hen uit het  midden der Kerken weg te  doen,  opdat ze           Saviour in the course of His ministry. They had ex-
 geen aanstoot geven.                                             hibited no peculiar strength of attachment to Him, or
    5. Zij spreekt uit:                                           to His cause. Had Peter and James and John been the
        a. Dat er ook zoo  we1 een plaats is in hct leven         travelers, it would not have been so remarkable that He
 van Gods kind voor ware ontspanning, geestelijk en liqha-        should have given them so many of the hours of that
 melijk, ofschoon die plaats slechts zeer klein  en gering is.    first day of His resurrection life; more hours in fact, than
        b. Maar dat ze geheel  er zich van verzekerd houdt,       He ever gave to any two disciples besides ; nay, so far
 dat mits naar bovenstaande beginselen wordt  gehan-              as we can measure them, more hours than He gave to
 deld en de  Kerk weer zuiver geestelijk-antithetisch             any other interview of that period, perhaps as many as
 streeft te leven, de  plaats en de aard dezer  ontspannin-       were spent in all the other interviews together, for gcn-
 gen gerust kunnen  worden  overgelaten  aan ieders  con-         crally  they were very brief.
 scientie. Het zoogenaamde "probleem der amusements"                 What was there in these two men to entitle them
 zal ophouden een probleem te zijn.                               to such a distinction? They were not apostles, nor were
                    Met eerbied onderworpen,            1         they of any great note among the seventy. Our Lord's
                                                                  first words to them may perhaps help us to understand
                                 De Standard-Bearer.              why it was that He joined Himself to them. He had
                                                      H. H.       been seen walking beside them, so close as to hear some-
                                                                  what of their conversation. But they are so intent upon
                                                                  the topic that engrosses them, that they notice not that
                                                                  a stranger had overtaken them, and been in part a lis-
 OUGHT NOT THE CHRIST TO HAVE SUFFERED                            tener to their discourse. At last, in manner the easiest
   THESE THINGS, AND TO ENTER INTO HIS                            and most natural, least calculated to give offense, expres-
                   GLORY ?-Luke 24  26.                           sive at once of interest and sympathy, Jesus breaks in
                                                                  upon their discourse with the inquiry, "What manner of
     It was toward evening; the day was far spent when            communications are these that you have to one another,
 the two disciples reached  Emmaus; yet there was time            as ye walk and are sad?' That sadness, who can tell
 enough for them, after they had dined, to return by day-         what power it had in drawing the man of sorrows to their
light to Jerusalem (a distance of about seven miles, or           side? It was to Mary, weeping in her lonely grief; to
 two or three hours' walk) and to be present at that eve-         Peter, drowned in tears of penitence- that He had
 ning meeting, in the midst of which Jesus was  se,en by          already appeared. -qnd now it was to these two disciples
 them once more. It must have been between mid-day                in their sorrow that He joins Himself: so early did the
 and  sun-set that the journey to  Emmaus  was taken. Of          risen Saviour assume the gracious office of comforting
 the two travelers, the name of the one only has been             those who mourn, of binding up the broken heart. But
 preserved; that of Cleopas, generally believed to have           in Mary, Peter and these two disciples, three different
 been a near relative of Christ  - the husband of the Virgin      varieties of human grief were dealt with. Mary's was
 Mary's sister.    It was not, however, the closeness of          the grief of a  gratefu1  and affectionate heart, mourning
 the relationship to Jesus which won for them the privi-          the loss of one beloved ; Peter's was the grief of a spirit
 lege of that strange conversation by the way. Had near-          smitten with the sense of a great offense committed. The
 ness of relationship had anything to do with the matter,         grief of the two disciples was that of men disappointed,
 there was one surely to whom, above all others, we might         perplexed, thrown into despondency and unbelief. It is
 have expected that He would appear on the day of resur-          especially noticed that it was while they communed
 rection.    Yet neither on that day, nor on any of the           together, and reasoned with one another, that Jesus drew
 forty days He spent on earth thereafter, does -Jesus             near to them. There was much about which they well
 seem to have made any special manifestation of Himself           might differ and dispute. The yielding of their Master
 to His mother, or indeed to have taken any individual            to the power of His enemies, and His shameful cruci-
 notice of her whatever. Her name does not once occur             fixion two days before-how could they reconcile with
  in the record of this period of our Redeemer's life. It         His undoubted pretensions and power, as a prophet so
  looks as if with that kindly, son-like notice of her from       mighty in words and deeds?        This one that other say-
  the cross, Jesus had dropped the recognition of the`earthy      ing of His, pointing to a future, never now as they
  relation altogether, as one not suitable to be carried          fancied, to be realized, what could they make of them?
  into that kingdom to whose throne He was about to               Had Jesus Himself been disappointed, deceived ; had he
  ascend.                                                         imagined that the people *would rise on His behalf, and
     And as it was nothing in their outward relationship          prevent  Hiscrucifixion? That might have been, had He
  to Jesus, so neither was it anything in the personal char-      not so often shown that He knew all that was passing
  ncter,  position or services of these two men which drew        in men's hearts. Could He then have been ignorant how


398                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   E E A R E R

the multitude of Jerusalem would feel and act? There           that He was alive; yet when Jesus stood in the midst of
was truth, too, in what so many of them had flung re-          them, they supposed that they had seen a spirit; so
proachfully in His teeth, as He hung upon the cross: He        troubled were they at the sight, so incredulous were they
had saved others, why did He not save Himself? `What           even as they looked at Him, that He had to say to them,
a confused heap of difficulties must have risen up before      "Why are ye troubled, and  why do thoughts arise in
these two men's eyes as they reasoned by the way. And          your hearts? Behold, My hands and My feet, that it is
then besides, there was what they had just'heard before        I Myself; handle me .and see, for a spirit hath not flesh
they left the city- the report of some woman that they         and bones as ye see me have  ;" and still further, to  re:
had gone out, and found the sepulchre empty, and had           move all doubt, He asked that some meat should be pre-
seen angels, who told them that He was alive. They             sented, and He took the piece of broiled fish and the
indeed might easily have been deceived ; but Peter and         honeycomb, and did eat them in their presence. It may
John had also gone out. It is true, they had seen no           have been the sudden appearance of Christ in the .midst
angels, nor had any one, that they had heard of, seen the      of them, while the doors of the chamber remained un-
Lord Himself. But the sepulchre had been found empty.          opened, which in part, begot the belief that it was a
The women were right so far; were they right also in           spirit that stood before them; but that there was some-
what they had said about the angel's message? Could            thing  ltoo in the changed appearance of their Master,
Jesus actually be alive again? We wonder that these            which helped to sustain that belief, is evident from what
two. men could have left the city at the time they did;        is told of His next appearance,by the lake side of Galilee.
we wonder at this the more because we know that, had           John's quick eye and ear recognized Him from the boat;
they but waited an hour or two longer, they would have         but when they had all landed and gathered about Him,
had all their troubles resolved. It is clear enough, how-      "None of them," it is said, "durst ask Him, `Who art
ever, that neither of them had any faith in the resurrec-      thou?' knowing that it was the Lord." Whence the
tion; and as clear as they were dissatisfied  lwith  their     desire to put such a question, but from a passing shadowy
unbelief - altogether puzzled and perplexed. Ignorant,         doubt, and whence the doubt but from some change in
they needed to be taught; deeply prejudiced, they needed       His appearance? When afterwards on the mountain
to, have their prejudices  removed.  For hours and hours,      which He had appointed, Jesus showed Himself to about
for days and days, they might have remained together           five hundred brethren at once, they saw Him and  wor-
without clearing up the difficulties that beset them. But      shipped; but some, it is said, doubted- those, Iet us
now, in pity and in love, the great Enlightener Himself        believe who saw Him then for the  &-St and only time,
appears-,appears  in the garb of a stranger who joins          and on whom the sight seems to have had the same effect
them by the way. They do not at first, they do not all         that' it had in the first instance on nearly all who wit-
through the earnest conversation which follows, recog-         nessed it. It seems to us the best if not the only way
nize him.                                                      for accounting for this, to suppose that the resurrection
       In reading the accounts of all the different appear-' body of our Lord had passed through a stage or two in
antes  of Christ after His resurrection, the conviction        its transition from the natural into the spiritual body;
seems forced upon us, that some alteration had taken           from ifs condition as nailed upon the cross, to its ethereal-
place in the aspect of our Saviour, enough to `create a        ized and glorified condition as now upon the throne.
momentry  hesitation in recognizing Him, yet not enough,          There was, however, something special of the two
after a close inspection, to leave any doubt as to His         disciples traveling to  Emmaus. They might not have
identity. In the garden, Mary was so absorbed in her           recognized Him, as clothed perhaps in the garb of an
sorrow, so utterly unprepared to meet the living Christ        ordinary traveler, he put His first question to them by
- she looked so indirectly, with such a heedless glance the way; but when He assumed the office of their in-
at the stranger, whom she took  to% be the  gardener-          structor, and, showing such intimate acquaintance with
*that  we do not wonder at her failing to see at  first who    the Scriptures, made their hearts burn within them, as
He was. So  suon  however, as her name was uttered,            He unfolded their new meaning must they not many a
and she turned and fixed that steadier look upon the           time have turned upon Him a very searching look, won-
speaker: the recognition was complete.            .            dering as they looked, who this strange teacher pos-
       To the woman by the way, to whom next He showed         sibly could be? Yet were two or three hours spent in
Himself, His very salutation revealed Him, and left            that close and earnest conversation without their once
them no room for doubting that it was He. They held            suspecting that it was the Lord. How accurately does
Him by His feet, too, for `a moment or two;as they wor-        this accord with the different statements of Mark and
shipped, and got the evidence of touch as  we11  as sight      Luke. Mark distinctly tells us that He appeared to them
to assure them  CJf  His bodily presence. That evening.        in another, in a strange form- a form different from
in the upper chamber, the disciples were assembled.            that in which they had seen Him previously. He ap-
They could not be taken by surprise. They were pre-            peared to them, as to all the others, somewhat changed
pared by the reports of Mary Magdalene, of the woman,          in aspect; but had that been all, they would speedily
of Peter, of the two disciples from  Emmaus,  to believe       have recovered from their first surprise, and ere many


                                     T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                                399

minutes would have identified Him. For a reason, how-          the disciples for their unbelieving fears, and then to quiet
ever, the Lord purposely concealed Himself,till  His work      the tempest,  ,which had produced them. The one great
of instruction was completed, and drew a veil of some          misleading prejudice of the disciples had been their belief
kind' over their eyes, which hindered their discovery of       that the path of the promised Messiah was only to be
Him by the way.                                                one of glory. To rectify that error it was only required
   He comes to them as an entire stranger; such as they        that they should be made to see that the predicted tri-
might naturally have met upon the road, and it is as a         umph and glory  yere alone to be reached through the
stranger that throughout he converses with them. "What         dark avenues of suffering and death. "0 fools and `slow
manner of communications," he says,  `<are those that ye       of heart to believe  all that the prophets have spoken:
have one to another, as ye walk and  a;e sad?' Little          ought not Christ to have suffered these things and to
need, thought one of them (his own deep interest in            enter into His glory? And beginning  `at Moses and all
them leading him, perhaps, to exaggerate that felt by the      the prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures
general community) - little need of asking such -a ques-       the things concerning Himself. Either Christ, then is
tion. Of what could any two men leaving Jerusalem,             not himself to be believed- in which case it were use-
only two days after that crucifixion had occurred- of          less to hear and read anything about  HimLor  in those
what else then of it, and Him the crucified, could they        Old `Testament Scriptures there are to be seen every-
be talking? "Art thou  only: says Cleopas, "a stranger         where prophetic  fingers  pointing forward to Him. To
in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are          search those Scriptures, and to find little or  nothitig  there
come to pass there in these days  ?" And the stranger          of Christ, little or nothing to show how it behooved him
says to him, What things? Thus it is, by questions need-       to suffer, and then to enter into the glory, is to handle
less for him on His account to put, but very useful to         them after a very different fashion from that in which
them to answer, that Jesus draws out from them that            they were handled by our Lord Himself,
statement, which at once reveals the extent  .of their            It is not likely  th& these three travelers had a copy'
ignorance and incredulity, `but, at the same time, the         of the Old Testament in their hands.          It was not by
amount of their belief, the strength `of their attachment      reference to chapter and verse, that the exposition of the
to Christ, and the bitterness of their grief which the dis-    Saviour was conducted; it was by no minute criticism
appointment of their expectations regarding Him had            of words and phrases, that the conviction of these way-
created. A stranger though this man is to them. they           faring men was carried. They were familiar generally
do not hesitate to confess their faith in Jesus of Nazareth    with Scriptures.  Oine or two of the leading prophecies
as a prophet mighty  in-words and deeds  ; obnoxious as        of the Messiah, such as that first one by God Himself in
they know the now hated sect to be they do not hesitate        Paradise, as to the seed of the woman and the serpent;
to acknowledge themselves openly as disciples of this          such as that of Moses as to the raising up of a prophet
persecuted and now crucified Nazarene, though the hope         like unto himself; such as that of Isaiah, when he saw
they  o&e had, that he should have been the Redeemer           His glory, and testified beforehand of the sufferings by
of Israel, they must confess themselves to have relin-         which that glory  shotild  be preceded and entered; such
quished.    Nay so far as the kindly and sympathizing          as that of Daniel about the Messiah being cut off, but not
inquiry of this stranger won for Him a way into their          for Himself -Jesus may have quoted. But not alone
confidence, that, as if He must be interested in all that      from direct and specific prophecies-from the  pascal
concerned the discipleship of Jesus, they tell Him what        lamb and the smitten rock, and the serpent of brass, and
certain women of their company, and certain others of          the blood-sprinkled mercy-seat, but from the whole his-
themselves, had reported about the sepulchre.                  tory of the Jewish people  - from the entire  circle of types
   The stranger's end is gained. The wound has been            and ceremonies and sacrifices, did Jesus draw forth the
gently probed  ; its nature and its extent revealed  ; and     materials of that wonderful exposition by which, for
now the remedy is to be applied. He who has asked to           two hours or so, He kept those listening men hanging
be informed, takes the place of the instructor; He who         on His lips. As we think who the expounder in that
had been reproached for his ignorance, reproaches in his       instance was, and what the materials of His exposition,
turn. "0 fools and slow of heart to believe." Slow of how natural  the expression -- Would that I had heard
heart indeed, and difficult to convince had they been,         all these things, concerning Christ. But have we not the
who, after such explicit declarations of His own before-       substance of that exposition, as much of it as is needful
hand, that He should be delivered up to the rulers, and        for us to have, preserved in the writings of the New
suffer many things at their hands, and be  cruc:fied  and      Testament, and may we not be sure that if we believe
rise again the third day, had nevertheless remained so         `not them, neither would we be persuaded though one
obstinate in their incredulity. The rebuke was needed.         rose from the dead, as Jesus that morning had done, and
Yet how faithful are the wounds of a friend; he wounds         should teach us even as He taught those two disciples.
but to heal; He rebukes the  unbeliel,  but instantly pro-         There was something indeed sublimely interesting
ceeds to remove its grounds, even as He rose from His          in that two hours' walk and talk of these three men on
slumber in the storm-tossed fishing boat, first to rebuke      the way to  Emmaus.  Had you been on the road that


                           .


JO0                                    T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

day, had you met these travelers as they journeyed on,         `nest entreaty, He yields to the urgency He had Himself
beyond the earnestness of their conversation with  one excited. The two disciples constrain Him, and He goes
another, you .would  have seen nothing remarkable about, in apparently to abide with them. They have Him now,
them, nothing to make you turn and look back npon              as they think, with them for the whole evening. And
them as they passed. Two of them are men in humble             what an evening it shall be, when, supper over, the con-
attire, traveling in the humblest fashion, returning to        versation of the wayside may be removed. The humble
one of the humblest village-homes:  and the third, there       table is quickly spread. He whose home it is prepares
is nothing  a,bout  Him different in appearance from the       to do the duty of the host. The duty is taken out of
other two; nothing to keep them conversing with Him            his hands. The mysterious stranger takes the bread ;
as their equal, one with whom the most unrestrained            He blesses, He breaks, He gives. Who but one could
familiarity might be used. Set who is He? He who               bless and break and give in such a way as this? The
that very morning had burst the barriers of the grave:         scales fall from the disciples' eyes. `Tis He, their own
He in honour of whose exit from the tomb angels from           lost but now recovered Lord and Master. Let Him wait
heaven had been dispatched to watch at the foot and at         but a moment or two, they shall be clasping Him, as
the head of the sacred spot, where in death his body           Mary would fain have done, to their hearts, or, falling
had for a time reposed ; He who was now upon His' way          down, as the woman did, and worshipping at His feet.
to enter into that  glary which He had with the Father         Time is not given them. He reveals Himself and dis-
before the world was  - Incarnate deity fresh from the         appears. This moment known by them, the next van-
conflicts and the victories of the garden, the cross, the      ishing from their sight.
sepulchre. It is literally  God walking with men, men                                                             6.  3%. 0.
walking, though they knew it not, with God.        History
tells us of earthy sovereigns stripping themselves at times
of all the tokens of royalty, for the purpose of mixing
on equal terms with the humblest of their people; but                     NAAR SION TREKT MIJN HART
history never told, and imagination never pictured, a                                          .
disguise like this. But why was this disguise adopted            Wie weet den weg naar de hemelsche stad?
and in this instance so long preserved? May it not have          `s Werelds gewoel maakt mij moe, maakt mij mat!
been to obtain such a simpIe,  natural easy access for the       De straten bevIekt van den bloedigen strijd,
truth unto these two men's minds and hearts, as to give
it, even when unsupported by the weight of his own per-          De muren bedekken den giftigen nijd.
sonal authority, a firmer and securer hold? Whatever
may have been the more special. object as regards the            Ach, had ik vleugels, ik vloog naar omhoog.
two disciples, wonderful indeed was that condescension           Over de heuvels! de wolk mij onttoog
of our Lord which  *led Him to give so many hours  of            Aan  `t leven der aarde; in de hemelsche  zaal;                .
His first resurrection-day to this' humble office. The           Verheugd zat ik aan bij het heilige maal.
divine Redeemer thought it not a task too lowly ; and
by devoting in His own person, so much of `that first            Daar zijn geen armen,  daar zijn allen  rijk,
Christian Sabbath to it, has He not at once left behind          Jezus is Koning en wij Hem gelijk!
Him a pattern of what all true and faithful exposition           Daar heerscht eeuwig vrede, door niets meer gestoorrl.
of the Scriptures ought to be, even the unfolding of things      De Engel  des Hoogsten houdt wacht  bij de poort.
touching a once crucified, but now exalted Saviour.
       It was with heavy hearts that the two disciples had       Daar zijn de zangers, zij zingen  het lied
left  Jerus&lem;  and had all the journey been like the
first few paces of it, it had seemed z long way to Emmaus.       Gode ter eer, wat hun ziel is geschied.
But they are at the village nqw, and the road has never          Ik  hoor  al het "Heilig;" het "Heilig is Hij,"'
appeared so short. And now this stranger, whose  dis-            Het "Heilig de Heer', die mij rein maakte en  vrij !"
course had so beguiled the way, and made their hearts
so burn within them, makes as if he would  go  farther.          Stil wil ik  tr'ekken in pelgrimsgewaad
Emmaus,  it would seem, is not His resting-place. But            Tot God mij roept in Zijn hemelschen staat;
how can they part from Him? How may that conversa-               We1 wil ik hier  dragen gewillig mijn kruis,
tion, which had shed such a fresh light into their under-        Maar daar is mijn woning, `k heb heimwee naar huis!
standing, such a new hope into their hearts, be pro-
longed? They invite, they urge Him to remain. He               Refrein   voor  elk  vers:
gives,  He makes the opportunity for their constraining               Boven in Siori,  eindigt de smart.
Aim to be their guests. He suffers violence to be used
with Him; and then, when He had brought out all the                    A&, naar  dat Sion trekt mij  mijn hart!
strength of desire and effections toward Him in the ear-                                       Uit  "Kruis en  Kruon."


I

                                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D  BEARER                                                            403
                                                                                                                              --__l
        Laat ons geen schatten vergaderen die de mot en de                       class  c~f  people in the city. Also here there had been
     roest verderven, maar bedenken eii zoeken wij de dingen                     founded a church of Jesus Christ just as in the  -city of
     die Eoven zijn !                                                            Ephesus.  But  a comparison of the two letters that are
        De Heere zcgene in het aangevangen nieuwe seizoen                        written to these. congregations respectively will show
     het werk onzer  handen  en van ons hoofd,' tot eere Zijns                   that there was quite a difference between  them.  In the
     Naams en tot onze zaligheid.                                                first place there was a difference outwardly as to their
        Hij  behoede  en beware ouders en kinderen, leeraars en                  relation to the outside world. Of `Ephesus we receive
     leerlingen. Overheid en volk, huisgezinnen en  vergader-                    the impression that also in an external sense it was a
     plaatsen, kerken en scholen.                                                rather strong  congregatiog, large and flourishing, even
        Hij doe  we1 gelukken ons christelijk werk in huis  eq able to assert and maintain itself over against the world
     op `t veld, in werkplaats en kantoor, in winkel en fabriek,                 from  without  to a certain extent. True, also in its case
     op straat en in de studeerkamer; het handwerk en de                         the Lord suggested that it was subject to the ill will and
     ambtelijke bediening van velerlei aard en vorm.                             mockery of the world, for He speaks of their patience
        God geve ons verstand en kracht, arbeidslust en w?js-                    and power to bear, but we do not get the impression
     heid,  om  Hem welbehagelijk te leven.                                      that it was persecuted at the time by an overwhelming
        Hij schenke onze Overheid eerlijkheidszin en gevoel                      power in the world.
     van verantwoordelijkheid voor hun post voor Hem, die                           With Smyrna, however, this is quite differ&t. Of
     Oppermajesteit,  den Alwetende !                                            this church we are told that it is poor and in tribulation,
        Hij verleene ons onderdanen naast vreeze Gods, die                       that the  $eople  of God in the city were slandered and
     kloek maakt en fier, ook gehoorzaamheid en  onderwer-                       falsely accused, that they were persecuted and killed all
     ping  aan  bet wettig gezag, waar het pas geeft en de the day long. But in the second place there evidently
     Heere het vordert.                                                          is also a marked spiritual difference that is worthy of
        De  groote Schepper aller  dingen,  die al wat leeft  on-                our attention. `Of Smyrna we read that' it was rich,
     derhoudt, zegene de vlijt van den  landman  en schenke                      though it was poor, of Ephesus that it had left its first
     ons door Zijne genade in Christus,  onzen  Middelaar en love. In the case of Ephesus we read that the Lord has
     Koning,  elken  dag ons dagelijksch brood.  -                               something against .it; nothing of the kind is found in the
        Tevergeefs arbeiden de bouwlieden, zoo de Heere het letter to Smyrna. Ephesus is warned with a threat that
     huis niet bouwt !                                                           the candlestick will be removed out of its place if it
        Onze hulpe zij in den  Naam   des  Heeren,  die  hemel en does not repent, Smyrna receives nothing but the, most
     aarde heeft gemaakt !                                                       beautiful and comforting  prom,ises.  In every respect we
                                                               G. V. B.          have in Smyrna a portraiture of the church in tribula-
                                                                                 tion, We consider:
                THE SEVEN CHURCHES IN ASIA                                         I. Its External Position in the  C\iorld;
                                                                                  II. Its Inward Spiritual Condition ;
                    The Church in Tribulation                                    III. The Message of Encouragement It Receives.
                                                                                     I. The external position of the church in Smyrna
                                  "`And to the  angel of the church in Smyr-
                               na write: These things saith the First-and        and her  relation  to the world is indicated first of all in
                               the Last, who was dead and lived again:           the words: "I know thy tribulation." The word em-
                               I know thy tribulation and thy poverty
                               (but thou art rich) and the  blasphemy  of        ployed in the original denotes a condition of oppression,
                               them that  say  the+ are Tews  and-   the; are    of being hard pressed, of being in narrow straits. It
                               not, but are  a synagogue-of Satan.     -
                                   "Fear not the things which thou art           indicates that the world from without exerted a pres-
                               about to suffer: behold the devil is about        sure  `upon  the little congregation  thjt was well-nigh
                               to cast some of you into prison, that ye
                               may be tried; and ye shall have  tiibulation      unbearable, that threatened to leave it no standing room
                               ten days.
                         e.                                                      in the city. The world hated it, and from every side
                                   "Be thou faithful unto death and  I will
                               give thee a crown of life.  He that  bath  ;in    th,at  .world pressed the church in Smyrna hard with a
                               ear let him hear what the Spirit  salt&   unro    view to its ultimate destruction. The world  persecute4
                               the churches. He that overcometh shall
                               not be hurt of the second death."-Rev.            it, revealed its hatred and contempt in various ways and
          ._                   2:8-l  1.                                         caused the members of the congregation to suffer be-
         The city of  Smyrna,  where the church is found to                      cause of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
     which the Lord Jesus addresses his second letter, was                       And it seems that  at'this  t&e the persecution was first
     located north from Ephesus approximately as far distant. of all a social one. It does not seem that the people of
     from this latter city as Grand Rapids is from Holland.                      God in Smyrna were already brought to scaffold and
     As to business and industry, it might well rival with                       stake at the time this letter was addressed to them. That
     Ephesus for the honor of being considered the first city                    was a form of persecution still in the future. Now they
     of that time. No doubt, it must be largely attributed were  inade the victims of a social  persecutibn.
     to this fact that there were many Jews living in Smyrna,                             In the first place an indication of this is found in the
     who. as usual, belonged to the well to do and influential                   words "and thy poverty." The church  of Smyrna was

                                                                                    .,


  404                                      T  II  E    S 1' A N D A K  D    B  E A R E R
                                                        -
   poor, not spiritually but materially and socially. Spirit-       vver  this may have been, it is certain that the slander of
   ually they were rich, as the Lord informs us, bur socially       those Jews was directed against the Christiani  of Smyrna
they were poor. Perhaps they already experienced a                  because of their testimony of Jesus. They slandered in
  foretaste of that form of persecution which will be               their bitter hatred  of the Christ that had come. For al-
  dominant at the time of the supreme and ultimate mani-            though they called themselves Jews, they were not. Not
   festation of Antichrist, when the people that refuse to          the national Jews, not the natural descendants of the
  receive the mark of the beast and the  numbe; of his              father of believers are Jews in this dispensation, but only
  name  shali  be allowed neither to-buy nor to sell.               they that are partakers of the faith of Abraham, and
     I imagine, especially under the influence of the  influ-       that are justified by faith in Christ Jesus.
 ,i  ential  Jews, they were deprived of many privileges               This faith in Christ and justification in His blood
  which others enjoyed. They could not do business as               these so called Jews simply despised with their whole
  others did; they could make no headway in the world               heart. They did not believe in Christ. They rejected
  from a material and social standpoint, as could the Jews.         Him and crucified Him. again.       They trampled under
  Perhaps even they were directly deprived of some of their         fobt the blood of the new'covenant.  ,And,  therefore, they
  property, their goods were confiscated. because of their          were no Jews in reality. On the contrary, they were a
  testimony of Jesus. At any rate the church of Smyrna              synagogue of Satan, the Lord informs us. No doubt, the
  was poor. They had no social standing. They  were not Jews possessed a synago,Te in the city of Smyrna. Lit.
  rich in earthly possessions. Perhaps they gathered for            crally  the word synagogue signifies an assembly, a
  public worship in a miserable little shanty of a church           gathering. :jnd, therefore, the Lord characterizes these
  and could not even decently provide for the necessities           men that call themselves Jews and are not, as a gather-
  of  th,e angel of the church. With difficulty it was that         ing under the leadership of Satan. Satan is their chief
  they could maintain themselves as a church in the city.           and he inspires all they do. He, therefore, is. also  the.
         This social character of their tribulation is indicated    instigator of their slander. And also from this descrip-
  still further in the words  "and the blasphemy of those           tion may be inferred what was the nature and contents
  that.say  they are Jews, but are not, but are a synagogue         of their slander. For the name Satan means opponent,
  of Satan." They were slandered, blasphemed, reproached            adversary. He is the opponent of  God and His Christ
  and reviled. The  Jews,<who  no doubt could exercise a            and  HiFpeople  in the world. And as he had gained the
  very subtle and powerful influence in the city, utilized          leadership in the synagogue of the Jews in Smyrna and
  every opportunity to revile the name of the members of            instigated their malignant and pernicious blasphemy, we
  the little congregation. Exactly what was the nature of           can easily understand what  ,sort of reproach was cast
  their slander we are not directly informed in this letter into the teeth of the little Church. The slander of these
  of the Lord to the Church of Smyrna. Yet, we may                  Jews was decidedly anti-Christian. They were reviled
. easily surmise the character of their reproach. For the           for Christ's sake. As Christians, as followers of the de-
  Lord describes these blasphemers, first of all, as those          spised Jesus of Nazareth, these Christians had to bear the
  that call themselves Jews and are not. No doubt, they             reproach and hatred of the world about them. They be-
  belonged to  the nation of the Jews. In a national sense          came for the sake of Christ objects of most bitter hatred
  they were children of Abraham.  -And,  as usual,  they            and invidious contempt.
  were proud of this prerogative. They made it a special               But there is more to be said about the butward posi-
  claim that they were the children of God, because they            tion of the Church of Smyrna with relation to the world
  were children of Abraham. The Christians, who made                aGout them. The deepest stage of their suffering had not
  this same claim, were, of course, impostors. From this            yet been reached. They were poor and slandered, social
  it may be inferred what was the nature of their slander.          outcasts in the city for Christ's sake.  But this was not,
  They publicly called themselves Jews, though, in the              this naturally could not be, the end. The malignity of
  true sense of the word, they  we& not. They openly pro-           the synagogue of the devil could not be satisfied with
  claimed that they only were the people of God, that they          mere words of reproach. The enmity of the world never
  still expected their  IMessiah  and that, therefore, the          is.  No? even as this "malevolent slander had its root in
  Christians! who claimed that the Messiah had already              the bitter hatred against Christ and his Church,  SO  it
  come,  and who proclaimed Him as their  King?  were               could not cease before it had manifested itself in actual
  nothing but a dangerous sect, dangerous to the State,             persecution of these Christians. And the, Lord forewarns
  because they might easily `instigate the people of Smyrnn         them of the coming tribulation. "Fear not the things
  to rebellion against their proper authorities and persuade        which thou art about to suffer," thus the Lord writes to
  them to acknowledge no other king than Jesus of Naza-             His Church, "behold, the  d&i1 is about to cast some of
  reth. At the same time they must have slandered the               you into prison that ye may be tried, and ye shall  have
  little Church in the very name of their professed King.           tribulation ten days." It is more than probable that: the
  The Messiah of the Christians was nothing but a  cruci-'          poor Christians of Smyrna themselves had a presentment
  fied criminal,  some'thing  that must have been  extremely        of the fierce persecution that was presently to break
  horrifying and repulsive to the rest of Smyrna's popula-          loose over their heads. Hardly could it be different. `Per-
  tion, for the cross was foolishness to the Greeks. How-           secutions of rhe Church generally do not break out all of


/1
                                                `I'HE  S T A N D A R D   B ' E A R E R                                            40.5

      a sudden, without any precursory signs and warnings.            werkt en iets, hoe' weinig dan ook, gezien wordt, dat de
      When we hear the distant rumbling of thunder and the            herinnering  aan het Beeld Gods bewaart. Onze  vaderen
      dark clouds gather threateningly, we know that presently        noemden dat de kleine overblijfselen en  dk glinsterende
      the storm will break forth in all its fury. Thus it is with     vonkskens.    Hoe belangrijk en gewichtig deze waarheid
      persecutions. They may come very quickly,  but hardly           ook moge zijn voor een juiste beschouwing van het aard-
      without any  premonitidns  on the part of those that are        sche en tijdelijke leven van den mensch,  C&n ding  staat
      persecuted. Thus it must have been in the congregation          vast, en daaraan mag geen oogenblijk getwijfeld worden,
      of Smyrna. They must have understood that the evil              eenige  kracht  tot zaligheid wordt daarin niet gevonden.
      slander of the Jews must finally develop into `actual per-      De gevallen mensch is en blijft bij dat  alles  geesteijk
      secution. Dark clouds must have been gathering at the           dood,  dood  in zonden en misdaden, onbekwaam tot'eenig
      horizon at this time. The very form in which the Lord           goed en geneigd tot  alle kwaad. Alleen Gods  wederba-
      sends His message indicates clearly that this persecu-          rende  genade  brengt hierin verandering ten goede,  Fant
      tion is not far off, that the `days of trouble and tribula- alleen  de wedergeborene kan het Koninkrijk Gods zien en
      tion are nigh at hand. They are  about   to suffer some         ingaan"
      things  ;  the devil is  about   to cast some of them into         Dat er zulk een remmende en stuitende  `geiade  is,
      prison. The very atmosphere must have been pregnant wordt, volgens den schrijver,  allereerst  duidelijk uit het
      with indications that persecution was about to break out.       feit, dat er bij  alle  menschen nog een zekere kennis van
      And the hearts of the poor Christians in Smyrna may             God tot openbaring komt. Ook~ de Heidenen hebben de
      well have been filled with fear and gloomy forebodings          openbaring Gods in de natuur niet  alleen,  maar zij  ken-
      of the near future. And just  because  of this the Lord         nen God ook en de onzienlijke dingen  Gods  worden  ook
      sends them the message of cheer and encouragement. He,          door hen uit de schepselen verstaan en doorzien.
      surely, does not comfort them by assuring them that                Doch er is ook meer, volgens Dr. A. Ruypr, Jr. De
      persecution shall not come, that suffering and trouble          Heidenen kennen God niet alleen, maar er is ook ee'n ze-
      shall not touch them, but while predicting that suffering       kere  vreeze  Gods bij hen overgebleven, en een poging,
      will be their lot, He encourages them: Fear none of             een ernstig streven om God  te zoeken en  te dienen, om
      these things! And it is rhe word of Him that was dead           inet Hem in gunst en vrede te leven,  komt in hun  Ieven
      and, behold, He liveth!                                         tot openbaring. Het is van belang,  dat we des schrijvers
                                (to be continued)                     eigen woorden ook hier weergeven:
                                                          H. H.          "Bij den duivel, al kent hij God en al gelooft hij God,
                                                     /                is  nooit eenige sprake van godsdienst, ook niet van  val-
                                                                      schen godsdienst, nooit eenige sprake van religie, ook niet
         DE HERAUT OVER DE GEMEENE GRATIE                             van pseudo religie.       De  engel,  van God afgevallen,
                                                                      heeft geen behoefte om God te dienen en zoekt Hem niet.
         Ook over de z.g.n. "overblijfselen~en  de kleine vonks-      Bij hem is er  alleen  bittere vijandschap en demonische
      kens," die er na den val in den natuurIijken  mensch nog        haat  tegen den Allerhoogste.
      worden  gevonden, dank hij de z.g.n. gemeene gratie,               "Maar zoo is het  blj den  gevallen  zondaar niet. Men
      schrijft Dr. A. Kuyper, Jr., in de  artikelenreeks  over versta ons wel, hij is geestelijk  dood en in zijn ziel steke-
      Het Beeld Gods in de Heraut, vooral in de nommers 2614          blind voor het Koninkrijk Gods en zijn natuur is  alzoo
      en 2615. Zijn beschouwing hierover geeft de geachte             verdorven, dat hij geneigd is God en zijn naaste te  ha-
      schrijver  als volgt :                                          ten. Het vijfde antwoord van den Heidelbergschen Cate-
         "Een belangrijke waarheid wordt in deze woorden              chismus blijft voor hem  onveiandei-d  staan; ik ben van
      (Art. XIV der Confessie en  Canones  III, IV, 4-H. H.)          nature geneigd God en mijn naaste te haten. Maar `van
      behandeld. De mensch is geschapen naar Gods beeld en nature geneigd' wit. nog niet zeggen, dat al is de neiging
      gelijkenis, in tweeirlei  o&cht, in zijn  wezen  en in zijn     er, het ook aanstonds tot het daadwerkelijke komt. Het
      natuzlr. Het beeld Gods in zijn wezen  is voor den mensch       is juist de gemeene gratie, die tegen deze neiging ingaat
      onverliesbaar,  want  verloor hij dat, hij hield van stonde en haar bedwingt. De neiging is er en zij blijft bij den
      aan op een mensch te zijn. De`mensch blijft  als zondaar zondaar, alleen  de particuliere genade neemt deze booze
      in dit tijdelijke leven, als  rampzalige  in de eeuwige ver-    neiging weg en geeft  aan het hart een andere neiging,
      doemenis, het beeld Gods in zijn  wezen   dragen,  omdat namelijk om God  lief te hebben en te dienen. Maar de
      hij mensch is en blijft  ,in al die  omstandigheden.  Maar gemeene gratie maakt dan tech, dat de zondaar, al is hij
      in zijn  natuur heeft hij het beeld Gods verloren, want         van nature geneigd God te  haten,  aan die neiging niet
      deze was heilig en is verdorven  geworden.  `Heel het  be-      toegeeft,  zooals  de  dtiivelen   doen,  maar dat er  bij hem
      derf, dat over den mensch gekomen is, heeft zich in zijn        nog  `een zoeken van God is, en een streven om  Hem  te
      natuur vastgezet en komt daarin tot uiting en  openba-          dienen, zooals het bij de Heidenen gevonden wordt. En
      ring.                                                           daarin wordt een overblijfsel van het Beeld Gods, een
         "Maar dank zij de gemeene gratie is er een stuitende         glinsterend vonkske er van openbaar.
      en remmende genade Gods, waardoor een tijd  lang het               " Bij den heiden is vreeze Gods,  natuurlijk   niet de
      bederf in die menschelijke natuur niet ten  voile  door-        kinderlijke   vreeze,  die  alleen  bij den  wedergeborene   ge-


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                                                                                             Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher. All is vanity !
                   M E D I T A T I O N                                                       Anguish of soul and suffering of body ! Who shall
                                                                                        estimate the measure of it there is in the world?
                                                                                             But even" so, you have not penetrated into the real
                           BLESSED MOURNERS                                             nature of this universal world-evil. As long as you con-
                                                                                        sider only the suffering and pain, the trouble and distress,
                                 Blessed are they that mourn: for they                  the sorrow and grief, the fear and remorse that tear the
                              shall be comforted. Matt.  5~.                            human frame and heart, you have only looked on the
          A vale of tears!                                                            *outward appearance, at the external form of this  dark-
          A life which is nothing but a continual death!                                ness. you have only described that which is seen and
          Sadly but truly the most serious minded of men have                           heard and felt by every human soul . . . .
      always thus characterized this world from the viewpoint                                The inner reality you have not touched.
      of man's life.                                                                         For the inner reality and real nature of all this evil
          It is the Ianguage of Scripture; it is the  estimaie  of is sin, guilt and corruption and the anger of God. There
      this world and of the things that are in  the  world   by  the                    is a gredt  guilt of which we all partake and a foul power
      people of God.                                                                    of corruption by which we all are polluted and a burning
          For it is better, indeed, to enter into the house of                          wrath under whose consuming power we must needs all
      mourning and to weep with the sorrowful, than to par-                             pine away by nature. There is a guilt which oceans of
      take with those that seek satisfaction in the halls of human blood together with all the blood of bulls and
      feasting,     rebounding with the peals of  supercillious                         goats cannot wash away, which we can only increase con-
      laughter. Better because the former is closer to reality                          tinualy, daily, hourly, whose crying voice of accusation
      and, therefore, offers true wisdom and heart-health ; in                          and indictment can be silenced only in bottomless hell;
      the merriment of the latter there is always something of                          for it is the guilt of sin against infinite majesty. There
      ebullient silliness and spiritual ebriety, reminding one of is a gigantic power of death and wickedness, holding  US
      the sottish indulgence of the brute beast, feasting on its                        in steel embrace, corrupting our mind and enchaining
      last meal, just before the knife of slaughter cuts its                            our very will, making us willing slaves of sin and causing
      throat . . , . .                                                                  us in brutal sottishness to seek our own destruction. And
          Oh, what untold eviI and inexpressible anguish there                          ovei- it all there is the constantly burning wrath of a. holy
      is in the world!                                                                  and righteous God, Who cannot compromise with our
          Who shall describe it?                                                        wickedness or be a passive onlooker with respect to our '
          Suffering is an essential characteristic of this present                      iniquity . . . .
+     time ; darkness and gloom are inseparably connected with                               Reality? . . . .
      man's life.         In anguish and travail man is born into                            Oh, do not search for it in the lighted banquet halls
      the world and death waits for him as his enemy from the                           of this world, where brutish men seek to swallow oceans
      womb, to take hold of him as soon as he beholds the                               of world-grief in drunken revelry, and to silence groans
      light of the world, to harass and torture him, to wound                           of world-pain by senseless laughter!
      him and mercilessly laugh at his outcries of pain,  t'o                                This life is nothing but a continual death!
      pierce his bones and marrow, to shoot darts of cutting                                 And reality is depicted by the man of God in that
      grief and sorrow into his heart, to drag him down, finally,                       heart-melting lamentation :
      from the stage of life and into the darkness of the grave,                                          "In Thy wrath our spirits languish,
     < there to frustrate all his efforts and show the vanity of all                                        Sinful `neath Thy searching eye ;
      his battles and struggles and to deliver him, a prey to                                               All our days are passed in anguish,
      corruption . . . , .                                                                                  In Thy wrath pine and die.


      jr10                                          T H E   STANDARD B E A R E R

                       Threescore years and ten we tarry,                  giqning, and Whose counsel shall stand and He shall do
                       Fourscore years the strong may stay,                all His good-pleasure. For then the truth appears thus,
                       Long the load of grief to carry,                    that God has loved His children from before the foun-
/I                     Till  ar last we  p&e and die."       ,             dation of the world and has ordained them  to' become
              Such is reality!                                             partakers of the highest contieivable  glory in Christ Jesus
              Vale of tears!                                               their Lord, His only begotten Son. But to attain to this
                                                                           higher, to this highest glory, which could become theirs
                                                                           only through the  Incarqated  Son of God, the way, ac-
              Blessed are they that mourn !    j                           cording to God's own counsel, must needs lead through
              Again, even as it was with the first beatitude, we say:      this deep vale of tears. There was no other way than
      how strangely paradoxical this sounds !                              the way  of. sin and grace, the way of the Cross. And
              The mourning, you say, they that are steeped in sor-         so God sovereignly determines upon that way, and He
      row and engulfed in grief, that go their way in black and            does  ngt  hesit,ate  to make His children partake of the
      sackcloth, they are blessed, they are to be counted happy?           suffering of this present time for a little while. They
       Is there joy in sorrow ? Is there bliss in mourning?                are born in sin and death. They become partakers of all
              Yes, and even if you answer, that., the mourning ones        the anguish of the world,  th,ey'  partake by nature of the
      are blessed., because they shall be comforted, does not the guilt of all, are, by nature, polluted with the corruption
       contradiction, the paradox of the beatitude remain? For of all; they are naturally born as  chidren of wrath  as.
       is it not  infinitefy better never to experience sorrow and also the others.
       be in distress and trouble at all, than to grieve in order.          But He redeems them out of the world by making
      to be comforted?                                                     even His only  begotiten  Son  p&rtakers'  of their sorrow.
              It may seem so in the world and according to its             Their sin He loads on Him; their death He suffers; their
       standard. It is not so in the kingdom of God.                       ioad of grief He bears alone.                                   t
              Not the sorrow of the world, not the mourning of the            And He calls them, making them partakers of the
       wicked  is meant, Oh, who does not know sorrow and                  resurrection of Jesus Christ, their .Lord, and filling their
       who is not acquainted with grief in the mere natural                hearts with a new love, their mind with a new light, their
       sense of the word? Who  is.so reconciled with the  su-              will with a new desire after God.
       fering of this present time and the darkness of this vale              And living from that new life, and viewing all things'
       of tears, that he can forever lay aside the cloak of grief in that new light, they  feel.their misery, they see their
       for garments of joy ? Who does not cry out when he is darkness, as they never saw it before, and they begin to
       in pain? Whose heart is not rent when objects of love               mourn, to mourn after God, with a sorrow that longs for
      ' are torn awav from it into the  darknbs of the cruel               Him. Thky are spiritually grieved because they know ,
       grave? Who, when returning from the brightly lit hall their sin and guilt, and became acquainted with their
       of feasting and banqueting, where, for a little while he            poverty of spirit. They mourn in the spirit of the  publi-
       attempted to drown his heart-ache, does not come to                 can and cry out : Oh, God be merciful unto me, a sinner !
       himself to realize that his very feasting was vanity, leav-            But even so, all is not said.
       ing the soul empty? . . . .                                            For they are in principle comforted. They receive
              Oh, surely, there is a sorrow of the world, a sorrow,        the adoption of children, forgiveness of sin, the blessed
       not after God, not because of sin and guilt and corruption assurance that their guilt is washed away by the precious
       and the power of the devil and his host ; but because in a          blood of the Son of God. They `have an .inward  desire
       life of sin there can be found no real joy and satisfaction         to walk according to the commandments of their Lord,
       and because experience teaches always again, that to live           to manifest themselves as children of light. And be-
       apart from God is death; the sorrow of the wicked, a                cause  of this profound desire, arising from the new life
       wicked mourning !                                                   of their Redeemer within them, they continue their way
              There is no bliss in it, neither shall they, who thus        mourning and in grief. They mourn because of the body
       mourn ever be comforted. It is a sorrow that leads far-             of this death, for in it, they must often confess that they
       ther away from God, the real Source of all true comfort;            do not what they would and do what they would not.
       that spurs on to seek one's own salvation apart from God ;          They mourn because they are still in the suffering  of
       that fails, always. fails  ; that embitters the soul ; that ends    this present time and they long, by virtue of their new
       in outer darkness !                                                 life, for the glorious perfection of the New Jerusalem,
              But here is meant the mourning of the children of            for their final adoption. They go in mourning, too,  be-
       God, as they must needs make their way and fight their `cause as children of light they are hated by the world
       battle through this vale of tears. Oh, it is a blessed              and all the powers of darkness and they must  suffer its
       thought, a most comforting truth, that the mourning are             enmity. Saints they are but still sinful; heirs they are
       blessed in this world, provided their mourning is true., of  all things, but still they appear as paupers; delivered
       Rightly one can never conceive of the blessedness of this           they are from all the wrath of God and all the punish-
       truth, until he contemplates it from the viewpoint of the           ment of sin, but still they must pass  t-hrough   suffering
       counsel of God, Who knows all His works from the  be-               and death; victors they are, yet `they are often killed all


f

                                             T H E   S T A N D A R D - B E A R E R                                                411

     the day long! Pilgrim-saints, heirs, victors, they must         rors they shout :  0, death where is thy sting?  0, grave,
     pass through this vale of tears!                                where is thy victory?
        And they mourn, with a sorrow after God and the                 Blessed they are, for they shall  be comforted!
     things of His perfected kingdom, with a mourning that              Here they are saved in hope!
     cannot cease. till they shall have arrived in God's per-           But the day comes when they shall be comforted, be-
     fected tabernacle.                                              cause they shall enter into the realization of their hope.
        These mourners, the kingdom-mourners" are meant in           And that final inheritance of glory is so great, that the
     this second beatitude.                                          suff,ering  of this present time is not worthy to be com-
        Blessed are these mourners!                                  pared with it. Fully, doubly, nay, with an eternal re-
                                                                     ward they shall be iewarded for all their gloom and
        Oh, but how blessed they are!                                trouble and sorrow and pain and distress . . . .
        Blessed they are now and here, even while they are              For they shall enter into the City, whose gates shall
     still passing through this vale of tears on their pilgrims-     never'be  shut, because there is no night there.
     journey !                                                          And they shall dwell forever in God's perfected taber-
        Blessed they must be counted because of the very             nacle. A diadem of joy and glory for ashes, oil of ever-
     fact that they mourn, and have been delivered from the i lasting gladness for mourning, and garments of praise for
     drunken revelry of the joy of the world. For in their           the spirit of heaviness . . . .
     very mourning they have the undeniable proof that ,their           God shall fully compensate His mourning  pilgrim-
     eyes have been  opened,/that  they have been called from        children !
     darkness into God's  marvellous  light, that they  *have re-       And wipe away all tears from their eyes!
     ceived God's unspeakable gift of grace in Christ Jesus,            Blessed mourners !
     their Lord.                                                                                                         H. H.
        Blessed they are, because even now they are com-
     forted with a comfort that fills their heart with a joy pro-
     found and lasting and passing all understanding.                   DE HERAUT OVER DE GEMEENE GRATIE
        For the Comforter did come!
        Anil'that  Comforter; that shall abide with them for-                         (Vervolg  van bladz. 407)
     ever, dwells in their hearts, never leaves them, all the
     way.                                                               GMaar nu ter zake.
        And all the way He comforts!                                    W.ij hebben tegen de voorstelling van Dr. A. Kuyper,
        When their own conscience would accuse them of Jr., in de Heraut allerlei  bedenkingen.
     sin and guilt and many unfaithfulnesses and they mourn             In de eerste  plaats hebben we dit bezwaar, dat de
     because of their imperfect walk, this Comforter fills them      voorstelling niet 10s loopt,  en dat het ook Dr.' Kuyper, Jr.,
     with the consolation there is in the blood of Jesus Christ,     met gelukt is, om ons duidelijk te  maken,  hoe hij de  al-
     their Redeemer, assures them that their guilt is washed         geheele doodheid en verdorvenheid van den natuurlijken
     away and their sin is blotted out for His Name's sake           mensch kan handhaven en  tech ook  leeren,   dat  diezelfde
     and fills them with the peace of the righteousness which        mensch nog weer goede  dingen  doet. De schrijver wil,
     is of faith.       When they  fmd within themselves but  a      ten opzichte van het Beeld Gods in den mensch, onder-
     small beginning of the new obedience-and would fain be          scheid maken  tusschen bet wezen  van den mensch en zijn
     delivered, this Comforter strengthens and sanctifies them nutuur;  in zijn  wezen  kan hij dan dat Beeld Gods nooit
     and holds before them the final hope of perfection in the       verliezen,   we1 in zijn natuur. Maar in die natuur heeft
     day of our Lord. When the enemy threatens and the               hij dat Beeld dan ook door de zonde geheel en al  verlo-
     way would seem dark and victory far off, this Comforter ren en is hij bedorven  gcworden. Tegen deze onder-
     fixes the eye of their faith upon Him that overcame the         scheiding hebben we geen bezwaar, mits ze  goed  ver-
     world and  fills them with good cheer. When suffering staan wordt. Het onderscheid tusschen wezen  en natuur
     is upon them and death threatens, this Comforter causes         is niet gemakkelijk te verstaan en te handhaven in elk
     them to rejoice in suffering, assuring them that it is but      opzicht. En er zullen ook  we1 niet veel Heraut-lezers
     for a little while and all to greater honour and praise and     zijn, die voor eigen bewustzijn die onderscheiding  kun-
     glory in the day of their final salvation. When the grave nen  maken.          Wij stellen de  dingen  gewoonlijk voor  als
     would,frighten and threaten to swallow them, this Com-          volgt (en meenen te mogen gelooven, dat ook Dr.  Kuy-
     forter removes their fears and assures them, that, even         per, Jr., het hierin met ons eens is) :
     as the Lord was raised from the dead, so their mortal              1. De mensch is naar zijn  wezen  en natuur, naar
     bodies shall be made victorious over the power of the           geheel zijn bestaan, geschapen naar Godqbeeld. Dit wil
     grave . . . . .                                                 in' het algemeen zeggen, dat hij. in creatuurlijken zin en
        Oh, but these mourners over things present are               naar de mate van het schepsel op God geleek en daarom
     blessed !                                                       ook aangelegd was om Gods leven te leven. Hij was  er
         So blessed, that through their tears they smile, in         naar zijn  wezen  op aangelegd om te kennen, zooals  oak
     their suffering they sing, in the midst of fears and  ter-      God kent, om rechtvaardig te zijn, zooals ook God  recht-


I                                                           TI-LE  STAND.A.RD   B E A R E R                                              417
                                                       -     -    -

                 wederbarende genade  ze in  Christus  in grooter glans          ure of the Father, all fullness dwells. The term  fullness
                 terugbrengt.                                                    is the signification of the sum. total of the gifts of grace
     /               Een volgenden keer nog iets over onze bezwaren              of which God is the creative source and Christ the meri-
                 tegen het schrijven van Dr. A.  Kuyper,  Jr., ontleend aan      torial cause, the seat and, so to say, the channel. This
                 de Belijdenis onzer  Kerken.                          H. H.     fullness is hidden in God and was made to dwell in Christ
                                                                                 -the vine-by whom, in turn, it (life spiritual) is urged
                                                                                 into the branches-the body of the Church. However,
                    THE INSTITUTION OF CHRIST'S CHURCH                           we must be on our guard, as was before said, against the
                                                                                 error of Pantheism. We do so, by carefully noticing the
                     In our previous article under the above caption, we         point of departure between the vine in nature and the
                                                                                                                   .
                 were engaged with the body-of Christ's Church. Scrip-           true vine, Christ.
                 ture was consulted with a view to ascertaining how                 As to the vine in nature, its branch, in a most literal
                 "Holy Writ conceives of the Church. The discovery was           sense is an outgrowth of the vine. The branch is the
                 made that the Church is an' organism and constitutes,           vine extended. Christ, on the other hand, is not, as to his
                 together with its King, the Kingdom of Heaven. The              human nature, God extended ; nor is the believer the pro-
                 Church, such were our findings, is a unique phenomenon.         jection of either the man or the God Jesus. If so, both
                 Thereupon an attempt was made to lay hold upon the              this man and the believer were God. The truth of the
                 properties peculiar to this organism-the Church. The            matter is that Christ as to his human nature is a creature,
                 question was faced: What is an organism. It was de-             and remained through all the successive stages of glorifi-
                 fined as a body whose actions and operations must be re-        cation a creature. To express ourselves in the words of
                 garded as the manifestation of an innate life principle.        the Confession (Arts. 18, 19), God sent into the world at
                 In the organism man, this principle of life is the soul,        the time appointed by him, his own, only begotten and
                 endowed with personality and reason. The soul's  life-          eternal Son, who took upon him the' form of a servant,
                 source is God. So, too, the body of the Church. It is an        and became like unto man, really assuming the true hu-
          F      organism, whose operations are so many manifestations           man nature, with all its infirmities,  s% excepted, being
                 of a holy life the source and creator of which is God; the      conceived in the womb of the blessed virgin Mary, by the
                 seat of which is Christ.                                        power of the Holy Ghost without the means of man, and did
                    Further, an organism, it was said, is self-active, Like-     not only assume human nature as to the body, but also a
                 wise the body of the Church.         Its operations, though     true human soul, that he might be a real man . . . The per-
                 worked by the Spirit of Christ, are nevertheless, its own.      son of the Son is inseparably united and connected with
                 The Spirit prophesieth not, but worketh prophesy.               the human nature; so that there are not two Sons of
                    Again, the body of the Church, being an organism, is         God nor two persons, but two natures united in one
                 constituted of members-apostles, prophets, teachers,            single person: yet that each nature retains its own dis-
                 miracles, gifts, healing, helps, governments. Each mem-         tinct properties. As then the divine nature hath always
                 ber is vitally connected with Christ the seat of life. Hold-    remained  untreated  without beginning of days or end
                 ing the head-Christ-the member is nourished and  in-            of life, filling heaven and earth: so also hath the human
                 creaseth with the increase of God.                              nature not lost its properties, but remained a creature,
                    Once more, the members of the body of the Church             having beginning of days, being a finite nature, retain-
                 are the outgrowths of Christ. The branches are so many          ing all rhe properties of a real body. And though he
                 projections of the vine.        .                               hath by his resurrection given immortality to the same
                    Upon-these various aspects of the body of the Church         nevertheless he hath not changed the reality of his hu-
                 we dwelt in our preceding essay. Let us set out from            man nature; forasmuch as our salvation and resurrection
                 this point on. To begin with, the vine and its branches         also depend upon the reality of his body.
                 together with the organism man are but figures of the              Fact is, then, rhat the human nature is a creation of
                 organism of the Church. This must be born in mind or            God and is not the very being of God objectivated and
                 they (these figures) become unto us the yawls bearing           projected in the sense that both the man Jesus and God
                 us on into the miry waters of Pantheism. L,et us make are one in being, possessing, as to number, the same es-
               our meaning clear. The vine urges its own vital fluids            sence and life. As to his human nature, Christ as  cretiure
                 into the branches. These same fluids-same not only as           images God, exhibits his glories and is rhe sublime re-
                 to kind .but also as to number-circulate in both the vine       flection of God's eternal self-knowledge.
                 and the branch. Further, the branch is rooted in the               Neither is the new man of the believer a projection of
                 earth and serves as the channel through which the vital         either the God or the man Jesus deified. If  SO,  he too
                 elements, present in the earth, are transmitted through         (the new man), were God. Fact is that he is creature.
                 the vine into the branches. It appears at once that the         Says the apostle: "For we are his workmanship, created
                 vine is a most apt figure of the Christ  b&h in  hjs rela-      in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
                 tion to God and to his body the Church. We at once              ordained that we should walk in them" (Eph. 2 30).
                 recognize the point of convergence: Christ is the true             There is still another point of departure to be noticed.
                 vine-the head-in whom, according to the good pleas-                The same vital elements-same. as to number as well


$18                                      T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

as to kind-present in the earth, circulate, be it in a modi-      mitted  us sz~h first in Christ and thereupon by Christ in
fied state, both in the vine and in the branches. It must the believer, the question arises, what may the char-
not be supposed, however, that the fullness to which the          acter of this vital connection be; how must it be con-
believers fell heir, is present in God as a creation, and as      ceived of; how, in other words, is the believer connected
such was  .poured out, so to say, in the human nature of          with Christ; how does he (the believer) come into the
Christ and urged by him into his branches, so that, as in         possession of the fullness dwelling in Christ? In reply-
the case of the natural vine, the same vital forces-same          ing let us set out with the assertion ,that the fullness of
as to number-present in God, circulate both in Christ             life and glory made to dwell in Christ also dwells-must
and the believers. Not in this sense is Christ the seat and       dwell-in God. The question is, how? Does it dwell in
channel of the fullness of the blessings of the Kingdom           him as a creation that is as a spiritual substance? This
-a fullness merited by Christ in time and assigned to cannot be. Things do not leave His being as a substan-
both Christ and his branches in the silence of eternity.          tial product. Though he is omnipresent, creation, never:
       Fact is that though life spiritual is derived from God     theless,  is an event taking  place outside of Him. Can it
and urged by Christ the vine into the believers, this life        be, then, that this  fullnes's  dwells in God as so much
is not transferred from God to Christ and from Christ to spiritual substance entering into the makeup of his being?
the believers as water is transmitted from one vessel to          Indeed not. So the Pantheist thinks of things made. In
another or, as the vital fluids circulating in the vine are       fine, this fullness dwells in God-Father, Son and Holy
extracted from the earth and transferred by the vine to           Spirit-as an idea eternally contemplated ; as an eternal
the branches. There are, then, these differences.                 deliberation and decision whose expression and execution
 .x What now is the important, point of convergence?              was merited by the suffering servant of Jehovah-Christ
Why is the vine'in nature an apt figure of the Christ?            Jesus.
This has already been pointed out. We are now ready                  Rowever,  it pIeased  the Father that in Christ should
to go into details. Said the Lord Christ: "I am the vine          all fullness dwell.  Of it Christ  was made the recipient,
and ye are the branches" (John 15  :5a). Once more,               the&seat, the channel and the dispenser. Therefore he is
what is there about the natural ,vine which renders it a          the true vine. Such are his prerogatives in that he being
fitting figure of the Christ? Attend to Christ's answer :         in the form of God, thought `it not robbery to be equal
"As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide       with, God; but made himself of no reputation, and took
in the vine ; no more can ye, except ye abide in me . . . .       upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
He that abideth in me and I in him, the Same bringeth             likeness of men ; in that he being found in fashion .as a
forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing"               man, humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
(John  15:4,  5).                                                 even the death of the cross (Phil. 2 :7-o).
       The branch, then, cannot bear fruit of itself except it       Now  the questions: how does  the.life  which believers
abide in the vine: The'thought conveyed by the words              have in themselves, dwell in Christ the vine? In reply-
of Christ is a matter of common knowledge. Life apart ing we set  our  by distinguishing between Christ's human-
from the vine is death to the branch.  ,The point is that ity and divinity. Christ is real man and very God. And
the connection between the vine and the branch is a liv-          the fullness to which he fell. heir on the day when he
ing one. The theologian's way of saying it is that the            entered the sanctuary in heaven and took his seat at the
vine and the branches constitute an organism. The term Father's right hand, dwells in both the real man and in
organism is good enough. The trouble is, however, the very God. How does this fullness.dweIl  in Christ the
that its significance  and,implica'tions  are little known.       God? We remark in passing that the term fullness is, as
Christ's manner of speech, on the other hand, is                  has been said, a signification of the sum total of blessing
`highly intelligible. ~ The branch bears fruit if it abides in    merited by Christ. The term signifies more than the
the' vine. The vine, then, in relation to the branch is the spiritual quickening of the spiritually dead yet elect sin-
seat of life. The  branches  live, thrive and bear fruit be-      ner. It is this blessing, however, with which we have to
cause  the,  vine urges its vital fluids extracted from the do one dealing with the allegory of the vine. We are
soil, into its branches. The branch, then, can do nothing using the term fullness as a signification of this particu-
of itself. In a word, the relation is a vital one. So, too,       lar gift of grace-life spiritual'. The question was asked :
as has been said, do the believers live, thrive and bear          how this life dwells in Christ the God. There is only one
fruit only if they abide in Christ. It means that the con- answer: Also as an idea eternally contemplated; and as
nection between Christ and the believer is a living one. an eternal deliberation and decision. Herewith the ques-
Life apart from Christ is death to the believer. This,            tion as to how this life as an eternal conception was
then, as has already been pointed out, is the point of            transferred from the Father to the divine person of Christ
convergence between the natural vine and Christ.                  has also been answered. The truth of the matter is that
       However, if the new man of the believer is an exten-       whereas the Father and the Son are one as to being,
sion neither of God nor of Christ and if the spiritual vital      this conception is eternally common to both, and cannot,
forces penetrating and identifying themselves with the            therefore, be transmitted from the mind of the Father to
believer's nature are hidden neither in Christ nor in             that of the Son for there is but one Divine consciousness.
God as a creation, that is, as a spiritual substance trans-          We have not said enough, however. The fullness, we


                                        ?HE  S T A N D A R D             BEARER                                        4 1 9

said, dwells in Christ, the God, not merely as a concep- and his branches the believers.  Llrhat is our conclusion?
tion and decision but as a conception and decision which         None other than this that, though Christ is the vine and
he in the capacity of Mediator may and does, because we the branches, the relation which he sustains to the
of his perfect obedience, lawfully express, realize and          members of his body is that of Creator and creature.
execute in his assumed human nature and in the  spirt- Though being branches of him, we art: and remain, never-
ually dead yet elect sinner.` This fullness, then, dwells in theless creatures created in Christ Jesus.  Thus it  ap-
Christ the God in the first place as a right which he may        pears that the pantheist would unlawfully be appealing
exercise.                                                        to the allegory of the vine in support of his philosophy.
    However, this fullness dwells in Christ in still another         This having been made plain ler  LIS  again face the
sense, namely as a conception realized and expressed in question why Christ in relation to the believers calls him-
his own human nature. Christ the God entered this na- self the vine. The question has but partially been
ture, quickened and glorified it. He is, therefore, accord- answered. It was said that the Divine speech of the vine
ing to his assumed nature the temple of God,  xadiating          in nature is that the connection ,between  Christ and the
the  gIory of the Lord of which rhe whole house is full. members of his body-the believers-is a vital one. How-
Thus the human body and soul of the person of the                ever, whereas the relation  betweet,  the first and third
Christ was made  So share in the glory merited.                  persons of the Trinity and the believers is as'vital as that
    As to the question how this fullness was transfused between Christ and the believers, the question will not be
from Christ the God to the assumed nature, let it be said suppressed why Christ refrains from associating the vine
that strictly speaking such terms as transfusion, trans- with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Fact, is that we
mission and transference are out of place here. Fact is          never hear him say: "I, and my Father am the vine."
that the glory penetrating and identifying itself with Such speech never passed over Jesus' lips. To rhe con-
the human nature is a divine conception realized and ex- trary, he takes care to inform his hearers that his Father,
pressed by the Spirit of Christ in the man  Jesus. The           in distinction from himself is not the vine but the  hus-
glorified body and soul of Christ. is an idea in Gods' `mind,    bandman  who taketh away every branch that beareth no
realized by the quickening Spirit who prepared for Christ fruit and who purgeth every branch that beareth fruit
his human nature, entered and dwells in it as its Sus- that it may bring forth more fruit. Why this association
tainer, as the creative source of its powers and of the of the vine `with himself only in distinction from the
glory now dwelling in the exalted Christ.                        Father. There is a reason for Christ's manner of speech.
    Let us now direct our attention to Christ's branches In presenting this reason we must set out with attend-
-rhe believers. Here the same questions arise, namely: ing once more to the vine in nature. Why must the
How is the life spiritual which the believer hath in him- vine in nature and its branches be thought of as consti-
self to be accounted for; how is it imparted? The follow- tuting a  comple&e  body or organism? Because so we
ing assertion will do as an answer to both questions: said the branches and the vine are vitally connected. We
As with Christ's human nature, so with his body the said not enough, however. The vine and, the branches
Church,-the life. in  ir is a conception present  Iin God's constitute an organism and that because of the peculiar
mind and realized by Jesus Christ who by his Spirit en- vital connection between the two.
ters the spiritually dead yet elect sinner and dwells in him        What are the elements constituting the peculiarity of
as the creative source of the life which he, by his suffer-      this connection? The branch, as was before said, is an
ings merited for his own human nature and for his outgrowth of the vine from which it derives the vital
branches-the elect sinner.                                       fluids necessary for life. Now the believer, as we have
   The statement was made more than once rhat  Christ- seen, is neither an outgrowth or an extension of Christ,
by  his Spirit entered his own  assumed'human nature to          neither of his Divine nor human nature. Nevertheless,
quicken and glorify it. So he did. However, in' the              the believers are peculiarly vitally connected with Christ.
sinner the Spirit performs a task not performed in Christ.       The connection is of such a character as to constitute
In both Christ the man and rhe Church he, the Spirit, both an organism. In elucidating this matter we may set
dwells as the Creator of life and glory, yet with this dif-      out with the assertion that Christ has our human nature.
ference: the sinner, being spiritually dead, corrupt and         The Person of the Son of God assumed a human body
filthy, he regenerates and cleanses. Not so  Clirist; to and soul like unto ours, sin excepted. In this nature he
whom the epitaph  dead  in trespasses  and  sin  exhibited by    was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows, and ac-
the sinner's every word, deed and thought, does not ap- quainted with grief. In this nature he bore our griefs
ply. Christ knew no sin. He, too, was reborn on the and carried our sorrows, was wounded for our transgres-
day of his quickening and glorification. His regeneration, sions ; was bruised for our iniquities. Hence, this nature
however, was not,the rebirth of a man dead to all things         Christ entered by his Holy Spirit to quicken and glorify
right and holy. It was ever his meat and drink to do the it. In this nature he dwells by his Holy Spirit. This
will of the Father.                                              nature is the Holy Spirit's basis of operation,  SO  to say.
   Thus we have penetrated a little further into the char-       It means that the Spirit entering the Church did not pro-
acter of that vital connection between Christ the vine, ceed from the Person of Christ directly but from the


 420                                     ` T H E   STAWDARD   B E A R E R                                               "`.,

 glorified human nature. That is to say, he first entered         and dwell in the light of God's countenance. For in him,
 the man Jesus, thereupon the  C.hurch. This the sinner the vine, all the fullness dwells.                         .
 who would live, must admit. He, who in approaching                                                                             G. M.  01
                                                                     t
 God, ignores this human nature wherein the Spirit dwells,                                     -    -    -    -
 will discover that with the Father is neither mercy nor
 love.                                                            DE CHRISTEL. GEREFORMEERDE KERK IN  NE-
        Further, due to the indwelling Spirit] who is the                    NERLAND EN DE  GEMEENIi  GRATIE
 creative source of the believer's life, Christ's human
 nature became unto the believers the seat of supply of                                     (Vervolg en Slot}
 life and glory. It means that the sinner who lives
 is connected up with this nature. And so it is. This, so I               Bezien wij nu nader Stelling V van het  Opstel  door
 it was pointed out, is one of the peculiarities of an organ-     Ds. van der Molen te  Apeldoorn verleden jaar geleverd
 ism. The branch is vitally connected with the vine. He           ter Predikanten vergadering over "Het Al of Niet Schrif-
 making the connection is the Spirit in that he dwells            tuurlijke der Gemeene Gratie leer," of anders gezegd, ons
* both in Christ's human nature and in the believer. Fur-         punt 9.
 ther, the branch we saw, is an outgrowth of the vine.                    Deze  stelling,  of dit punt, luidt:
 &ilthough  the believer is no outgrowth. of Christ's human               "De Schriftuurlijke leer der Gratia Communis keert
 nature, yet his appearance as a child of the light is the        zich tegen de verkeerde beschouwingen der wereld;  te-
 work of the Spirit dwelling in Christ's human nature.            gen die der Pelagianen en  Remonstranten; zoowel  als
 Finally, the same life-same as to kind-dwells both in            tegen die van Roomschen en Lutherschen; eveneens  te-
Christ's human nature and the believer. Thus it appears           gen die van Dooperschen en Puriteinen.
 that the believer is indeed peculiarly vitally related to                "Zij stelt zich ook tegenover de D.D. H. Hoeksema en
 Christ the man, and therefore peculiarly related to              H. Danhof, die de Gemeene Gratie geheel  verwerpen.
 Christ the God, as the human nature is his personal prop-                "Zij oefent critiek op. de Neo-Calvinistische opvattin-
 erty. In fine, the connection is of such a character as          gen in zake dit s&k."
 to constitute the two an organism.
    Thus it appears that the fullness also dwells in Christ's             Nu zijn wij  we1 verplicht om nog eens op  ie merken
 human nature in an organical sense. That it does so is           hier, dat de geachte referent het ons niet gemakkelijk
 due to the Spirit of Christ dwelling in his assumed na-          maakt om hem te kunnen volgen, hem te kunnen begrij-
 ture.                                                            pen. Hij begint immers met te constateeren,  dat er een
        It is plain that the believer is connected with Christ    Gemeene Gratie leer bestaat. Maar hij wil nader bezien
 in a manner in which  ,he is not  conriected  with God.          het al-of-niet Schriftuurlijke van die Gemeene Gratie
 Christ as to his human nature is unto the believer the           leer.
 seat and the channel of life. Not so  ,God. Of that  IiTe                Dan zegt hij, dat omtrent die leer "geen algemeen ge-
 he (God) is not the seat and channel but the source.             voelen" bestaat; en dat de Gereformeerde  vaderen   daar-
 Further, the same life-same as to kind-dwelling in the           over anders dachten, die leer minder hoog aansloegen,
 believers dwells in Christ (in his human nature). This           dan de Neo-Calvinisten, die haar "emphaseerden" en zeer
 cannot be said of either the Father nor the Holy Spirit.         wijzigden.
 Finally, the same Spirit dwelling in the believer dwells                 Vervolgens meent hij te moeten  constateeren, dat die
in Christ's human nature. This, too, is not applicable to         Gemeene Gratie leer  ooorul  "de verhouding Gods tegen-
 either the Father nor the Spirit nor the Son, for that           over de wereld wil aanwijzen, enz. enz. . . .
 matter. The person of the Spirit dwells neither in the              -Maar  de geachte referent verzuimt het  voornaamste,
person of the Son nor in that of the Father.                      namelijk door niet eerst ons eens te zeggen, wat de  in-
    The question arises why the human nature of Christ            houd der Gemeene Gratie leer  is3 omtrent welker  al-of-
was so honored. Because in that nature Christ atoned              niet Schriftuurlijkheid hij immers het zijne beloofde te
for our sins and merited for his people life eternal. Hence,      zullen mededeelen .en bekendmaken.
that nature yields, so to say, to God the right to forgive                De "vaderen"  kenden, voorzoover wij  weten,  die  Ge-
and to bless. Hence, he who confesseth that Jesus Christ          meene Gratie leer (de eenige leer ons daaromtrent  be-
is come into the flesh is of God. And every spirit that kend is die van de Drs. Bavinck en Kuyper) niet.
confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come into the flesh is           Al is. het ons niet onbekend, dat "oude schrijvers"
not of God: and this is that spirit of the antichrist. He         we1 van "Gods algemeene goedheid" spraken en van
who denies the Christ -and in particular the human nature         "Gods algemeene genade," wanneer zij Gods Voorzienige
of Christ as the seat. and channel of life, love and grace,       leiding en bestuur over  alle  dingen,  Zijn onderhouding
yea of every conceivable blessing God bestows is attack-          van al wat leeft, Zijn zorg voor Zijn schepping, en het
ing the righteousness and holiness of God. Christ must            werk Gods in het  natuurhjk  leven behandelden of ook
be confessed as the vine. The plain teachings of Scrip-           iets zeiden van het Beeld Ctids in den mensch, in ruime-
ture are that only his branches have life in themselves           ren zin genomen.


F

                                                  T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                              423

            geven door een der opstellers van De Wekker en gewezen         dank een proces van acute verwereldlijking  van het chris-
            op zekere kentering in de kringen der volgers van de the-      tendom mede in gang was  gezet," tot  heden  er niet  aan
            ologie van Dr. 4. Kuyper, Sr.                                  toe gekomen is, tot ons leedwezen, om 011s eens uiteen te
               Doch de Vergadering van Chr. Geref. Predikanten,            zetten, wat &j dan eigenlijk we1 gelooft Gemeene Gratie
            verleden jaar te Apeldoorn gehouden, heeft ons  teleur-        te zijn en hoe die zich openbaart.
            gesteld.               '                                                                                       G.V.B.
               Wij  hopen  evenwel, dat Ds. van der  Molen   zich, na                                               . .
            ons,vragen  en onze "critiek" op zijn spreken,  zal  opma-
            ken om voor ons, en voor onze medegetuigen tegen dwa-                              THE SABBATH
            ling op het stuk der Genade Gods, vele nevelen ten  op-
            zichte van zijn geloof in Gemeene Gratie op te klaren en          The Sabbath is a day appropriated to the services
            weg te vagen.                                                  of domestic piety. "It is the Sabbath of the Lord your
               Hij kan, indien hij dit wenscht, gebruik  maken  van        God in all your dwellings."
           `de kolommen in ons drgaan, den Standard Bearer, die               Family worship is one  bf these duties.  It is not the
            hem met alle liefde  zuilen  worden  afgestaan.                only day for that interesting and profitable service, for
                                                                           it is not the only day upon which families stand in n.eed
               Wij  hadden  gaarne meer gezegd met betrekking tot          of, and receive blessings from above; it is not the only
            de verschillende punten door ons genoemd in het verloop        day, therefore, on which it is profitable and necessary
            van deze artikelen en omtrent de Bijbelplaatsen in de          for them to acknowledge their Benefactor. But certainly
            Stellingen van Ds. van der Molen opgenomen  als  bewij-        the Sabbath is a day on which it would be peculiarly
            zen voor het door hem beweerde. Maar vooreerst wach-           inexcusable and criminal to omit such a duty, and on
            ten wij nu nadere verklaring van Ds. v. d. M., en ten          which it ought to be performed with special interest and
            tweede is onze "critiek" en navraag voor een groot  deel       care. The daily sacrifice under the law was doubled on
            "overdorschen van oud stroo," welk werk wij  echter            the seventh day, and in the temple service of Ezekial was
            meenden niet te mogen nalaten en niet als  nutteloos  te       to be tripled. The fourth commandment is specially
            moeten  beschouwen. Want de eerder genoemde  ge-               directed to heads `of families, requiring them, as such,
            schriften van de predikanten Hoeksema en Danhof kun-           to keep the day holy. On that day it is a good thing to
            nen den geachten referent ter Chr. Geref. Predikanten-         show forth God's loving-kindness in the  ,morning,  and
            vergadering te Apeldoorn veel beter inlichten aangaande        his faithfulness `every night. Reason itself dictates this
            de zaak hier bij ons nu in geding, historisch toegelicht en    as the duty of every morning and evening. The members
            Eritisch  .onderzocht als de kwestie der "Gemeene Gratie"      of families salute their head as they part at night and
            daarin is. Terwijl verder daarin omtrent het bestaan en        meet in the morning, and can they retire and assemble
            het  proces  der zonde in de wereld, en betrekkelijk het       without any recognition of him from  wh.om their being
            werken van Gods souvereine Genade, gansch en al Schrif-        and life is all derived? "The ox knoweth his owner, the
          . tuurlijke, gedachten worden  geopenbaard, andere dan de        ass his master's crib." "If I be a Father where is mine
     :      misleidende dwaalleer van de Neo-Calvinistisch  profe-         honor? If I be a master, where is my fear?"  A service'
            ten (die tegenwoordig  alle  gezag schijnen te hebben  on-     so evidently to reason itself a duty and a privilege, re-
            der Gereformeerde leeraars en "leeken"  hier en in Neder-      quired not so much prescription, promises to encourage
            land) biedt  -en inhoudt.                                      its observance, and warnings to deter us from its omis-
               Ook goede exegese van Bijbelteksten ontbreekt niet          sion: And we have all these. We see Job offering sacri-
            in Va?t Zonde en Gezade  en in Langs  Zuizrere.Banen;  tegen fices continually for his children  ; Abraham, Isaac and
            welke uitleggingen tot  heden  professoren  noch  kerkblad-    Jacob, as they journeyed with their families, building
            schrijvers hier te Iande of elders, hetzij ter Synode of       altars wherever they went; David after engaging in pub-
            later in hunne organen,  iets steekhoudends hebben  bun-       lic worship. returning to bless his household ; Daniel
            nen inbrengen.                                                 going into his house, and kneeling down and praying'
               En het voortdurende zwijgen daarna van onze. bedil-         three times a day, as he had done aforetime  which was
           laars en kettermeesters op onze herhaalde verzoeken, ens        family prayer since otherwise it could not be known, as
            van beter en meer licht te willen  dienen, bleef tot dusver    it was, to be his custom ; Cornelius `fearing the Lord
           aanhouden, en moet we1 door ons evenzeer  worden   aange-       with his house, and praying with his house or with his
            zien als een bewijs van hun diepe onmacht.                     household ; above all, our Lord praying with his family
               Trouwens het geheele theologische starrenheir van de        of disciples, and teaching them how to pray. These are
            Chr. Geref. Kerk hier te lande sprak het ter Synode van        examples, and we have the following promise and warn-
            Kalamazoo uit, de een voor den ander: dat zij van harte        ing : "If two of you shall agree on earth as touching
            geloofden dat er Gemeene Gratie bestond,  naar wat  bet        anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for
            eigenlijk was, zie  dat kon men niet zeggen!                   them by my Father which  is  in heaven." "Pour out
               Gelijk ook helaas Prof. Dr. Haitjema van Groningen,         my wrath upon the families that call not upon my name."
            die van Dr. Kuyper's ontwikkeling der leer van de  "Ge-        The worship of a family includes with prayer, the mel-
           meene Gratie" aanteekende, dat "daarmede tegen wil en           ody of praise, an`d the devout reading of a portion of the


/    424                                   T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

     sacred volume. "`The voice of  rej.oicing was heard of        our lips, for "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth
     old in the tabernacle of the righteous." Paul and Silas       speaketh." We err in not speaking more on common
     did not omit to sing praises to God even in prison. Chris-    days of the subjects on which the Saviour delighted to
     tians are thus commanded, "Let the Word of God dwell          expatiate. How mean are all our secular matters com-
     in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing         pared with the things of God's law. David invited all
     one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,          that feared God to come near and he would tell them -
     singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." The           about his wars and riches? -- no but what God had done
     religious instruction of families is the business of every    for his soul. Moses and Jethro sanctified their meetings
     day. It was no ceremonial rule which enjoined parents         by sacrifice. The men in Malachi's time  ,who  "spake
     t.o speak of the divine law to their children day by day,     often to one another," must have spoken on the name
     as they rose up and sat down, in the house and by the         on which they thought. Christ and Moses and  Elias
     way- and to train up a child in the way it  shot&d go.        spake of the decease which Jesus should accomplish at
     This is the law of Christ in.all ages. "Ye fathers, pro-      Jerusalem.
     voke not your children to wrath; but bring them up in             Personal devotion' form a congenial work of the
     the nurture and admonition of the Lord." "I know him          Lo&s. day. The study of God's Word, the remembrance
     -Abraham  - that he will command his children and his         of our creator, the consideration of the work of redemp-
     household after him." Solomon bears testimony to his          tion, and the pouring out of the soul in prayer to God,
     father's care, and walks in his steps. Hezekiah appears       these are duties of every day, and specially of a day that
     to have had three great objects in view for his remaining     affords so many reasons for such occupations.      Said a
     life on recovery from sickness-walking humbly, the            good man, "0 how love I thy law. It is my meditation
     praise of God in the temple' and making known divine          all the day." To quote a psalm or a song for the Sabbath
     truth to his children. Timothy is congratulated on his        day : It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord,
     unfeigned faith which dwelt first in his grandmother          and to sing praises unto thy name, 0 most High. For
     Lois, and his mother Eunice' and on his having from a         thou' Lord,- hast made me glad through thy work : I will
     child, known the holy Scriptures- by whom he was              triumph in the works of thy hand. 0 Lord how great
     taught them it is unnecessary to say-r"which were able        are thy works. And thy thoughts are very deep. The
     to make him wise unto salvation through faith which           feelings of good men in reflecting on the public services
     is Christ Jesus." This delightful task cannot be too reg-     of the sanctuary are thus indicated: "I was glad when
     ularly and diligently performed during the week, and          they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord."
     when thus attended to, answers the important end of           "A day in their courts is better than a thousand." "When
     showing the young that religion is a matter for every         I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for
     day. One day's instruction, too, would do little com-         I had gone with the multitude; I went with them to the
     paratively to inform the mind.  ,But the Lord's day pre-      house of God' with the voice of joy and praise, with a
     sents more abundant time, leisure, opportunity, and calm      multitude that kept holy day." The Sabbath, "the holy
     for calling a family together, and ascertaining and pro-      of the Lord"' was to be called  honordble  and a delight;  *
     moting their progress in Divine knowledge. It is worthy       and as the command was that persons on that day were
     of notice that, after preaching to the multitude, our Lord    not to do their own ways or find their own pleasure, the
     taught his disciples in private.                              ways they were to do, were God's ways and the pleasure
        Conversation on the great things of God's law is           they were to find was pleasure in him and in his service.
     another duty of a family on Lord's day. The primitive            No pretense of personal or family duties can exempt
     Christians saluted each other every first day of the week     from the obligations of public worship. &ad yet, it is
     with the words, "The Lord has risen." The conversa-           not the observance of -certain practices that shows the
     tion of Christ and his disciples related almost entirely      character so much as the spirit in which they are per-
     to such subjects, even on common days. And on all             formed. We should be seen by him who seeth in secret
     the Sabbaths and Lord's days which the Redeemer spent         retiring from society on the Lord's day, that we may con-
     on earth, and the conversation of which is recorded, his      verse with our great and gracious Father and Redeemer.
     discourse, bore on the things that concern salvation and      Alas, if it be not so, it is too certain that we are not
     eternity, so that men were constrained on one of these        spiritually minded, which is life and peace, but carnally
     days to wonder at the gracious words that proceeded out       minded which is death. Our attendance in the house of
     of his mouth; on another to say, "Blessed is he that          God in this case is a mere self-righteous task, a cloak
     shall eat bread in the Kingdom of God"; and on a  th,ird      to hide us from ourselves, instead of a gratification of
     to exclaim, "Did not aur hearts burn within us, while         ,the heart.
     he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to             It is in accordance with the nature and designs of the
     us the Scriptures ?' And can that be restraint or bond-       Sabbath to devote a portion of it to works of mercy. And
     age which the Saviour has taught us by his example? our Lord, who hath left us an example calls us by his
     lf the mind that be in him was in us, in proportion as        own practice to these labors of love. On the Sabbath
     it is,  SO  will grace, as it was with hm, be poured into     he cured a demoniac, and healed Simon's wife's mother


                                                                                                                 9
                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   .BEARER
                                                        -.-                                                                  425I
     of a fever. We find him afterwards restoring to strength        law, including this as well as other precepts, is the knowl-
     on that day the man who had for thirty-eight years been         edge of sin. The apostle says, without excepting. the           I
     impotent, and commanding him to take  up  his bed and           fourth commandment, "We know that the law is spirit-
     walk. He next vindicates his disciples against the cavils       ual," reaching to the thoughts desires, and aims of the
     of persons who had censured them for plucking some              mind equally as to the words and acts of the life. Tried
     ears of corn, and rubbing them in their hands, for the          by this one statute, who is not convicted by it of sin in
     purpose of satisfying their hunger. He further heals  a' heart and in conduct? But the wages of sin is death.
     man whose hand was withered, and gives sight to                 "Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things
     another who had been born blind, having previously pre-         written in the book of the law to do them." "Christ
     pared clay and applied it to the  mans  eyes. He looses         Jesus, however, came into the world to save sinners."
     from her infirmity a woman who had been for eighteen            There is salvation in no other. By him all that believe are
     years bowed together by Satan, and cures a man of the           justified. And not until  i;ve are united to him by faith,
     dropsy. The apostle Paul, who says,  "Be ye followers           pardoned and renewed in the spirit of our minds, can we
     of me, as I am of Christ," and who remembered that God          have any pleasure in his law and day; not until we have
     will have mercy and not sacrifice abruptly ended his dis-       his grace given to us shall we be disposed to keep any
     course at Troas, that he might employ means for restor-         of the commandments. How deeply sensible should we
     ing to life the young man, Eutychus, who, overpowered           be of our own inability to observe the day according to
     with sleep, had fallen down from the third loft, and was        the will of God. Faith works by love, and, believing, we
     taken up dead. "Pure religion and undefiled before God          rejoice with unspeakable joy; love to the person and
     the Father" consists greatly in this,  "to visit the father-    law of him who died for us and rose again ; joy on account
     less and the widow in their affliction." "As we have            of his atonement, resurrection- and glory, and in the as-
     opportunity," we "are to do good," temporal and spirit-         surance thereby inspired of a blessed immortality. This
     ual, %nto  all, especially unto them who are of the house-      Spirit was attainable and attained' in ancient times.
     hold of faith." And what day is more seasonable for             Right-hearted men calling the Sabbath a delight, the holy
     doing well than the day which was appointed to be a             of the Lord, honorable, received the promise, "Then shalt
     blessing unto man.                                              thou delight thyself in God"; and seeing like Abraham
        The law of the Sabbath requires more than the work           the day of Christ, the day of his advent and reign afar
     which is limited to the day itself. It takes all our time.      off, were glad; or beholding like others the stone which
     The importance of redeeming time in general, and of             the builders rejected become the head of the corner,
`    diligence in all our work, is frequently recognized in          raised these notes of praise, "This is the day which the
     Scripture. "Be thou diligent to, know the state of. thy         Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."
     flocks, and look well to thy herds." "Even when we were            Second, The Sabbath law is as sacred amidst the
     with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not          liberties of Christianity as it was under a severer econ-
     work, neither should he eat." And besides many other            omy, and enforced by yet more impressive sanctions.
     reasons for such conduct, it is necessary to the sanctifi-      That its circumstances should be different was to be
     cation of the Sabbath. The more faithful we are in the          expected. They. were not the same after the fall as they
     work of the week, the more prepared are we for that             had been in paradise, and they changed again when the
     day: prepared in a .free  mind, a clear conscience, and in      seed of Abraham, from being only families and wander-
     that full exertion of body and spirit in the matters of         ers, had become a settled and numerous people. The Sab-
     this life, which stimulates a desire for a holy rest. "He       bath could no longer be a type when the things shadowed
     that is not faithful in his calling, will never care to keep    by it had come. It could no longer be sanctioned by a
     the -Sabbath; and he that keepeth the Sabbath, will be          penalty of temporal death, because Christianity was not
     diligent in his calling."    Those two are like the two, a theocracy. It could not offer rewards in the land of
     cherubim whose faces look one to another.                       Palestine, for it is now a part of a system, .of which the
        Another important duty connected with the Sabbath,           field is the world.
     and not confined to the day, is our promotion of its ob-           As time had made progress, and the natural had been
     servance by others. "Thou shalt not do any work, thou,          succeeded by the moral creation  - the deIiverance  from
     nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy         Egypt followed by the redemption from sin-it could
     maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is          now enter into relation to an event greater than even
     within thy gates." It is the duty of doing good in this         these of all preceding ages to the day when the Redeemer
     particular respect to our neighbor and brother; It is the       rose  from the dead, and entered on His glorious rest.
     duty of not suffering sin the sin of breaking the fourth        None of these changes could affect the nature of the
     commandment, upon our neighbor.                                 Sabbath as a day of rest-a day of holiness and service
        In concluding this exposition of the Sabbath duties,         to the Lord. As the sun is the same orb that shone on
     we must advert briefly to two additional subjects.              the world yet unvisited by sin and unblasted by the
        First, it is only through faith in, Jesus Christ that we     curse, and now enlightens it as a revolted and blighted
     can be safe, obedient or happy under the law. By the            province of the universe- so it is the same  Sabbath


426                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

which has cheered mankind on their conditions of orig-                                     CORRESPONDENTIE   '
inal purity and subsequent depravation, is now risen
to its highest earthly honor. The Sabbath, like the sun,                 De lezer zal zich herinneren, dat in verband  met onze
has never essentially changed. In ancient times, as really gedachtenwisseling met broeder De Mey, we  dezen  ten
is now it was. a delight, and combined mercy and sanc-               slotte ook enkele plaatsen uit de Heilige  Schrift   voor-
tity.                                                                legden,  en hem verzochten die eens te  willen verklaren
       Now as well as then, it is not a day of idleness, or          in het licht van zijne voorstelling der  dingen. De  broe-
worldly business, or worldly pleasure. Has the removal               der voldeed aan ons verzoek en het .is nu reeds een paar
of its penalty of death made its profanation less criminal           maanden  geleden,  dat we zijn antwoord in ons bezit
than idolatry and disobedience to parents, which also no             kregen.  Andere   dingen  gingen voor en wij  hadden  niet
longer incur the forfeiture of the offenders life? Is                aanstonds gelegenheid,  noch ruimte om des broeders stuk
redemption a less holy and spiritual subject than crea-              met ons antwoord te  plaatsen..  We  zullen  daar thans
tion? Because we are brought nearer to heaven are we                 mede beginnen.
permitted to become more worldly-more occupied with                      Wij zeggen  beginnen,  want het stuk is te lang om in
amusements and vanities  - less obliged to meditate, pray            eens geplaatst te  worden  met ons antwoord er bij. Het
and praise on the day which now more than `ever bor-                 laat  zich bovendien zeer gemakkelijk in enkele stukken
ders on and resembles the days of eternity? This would               verdeelen,  daar het handelt over verschillende teksten.
be  to say that God's moral law is mutable; that Christ              En tevens is  bet voor  onze lezers gemakkelijker te  vol-
came to relax it, to destroy foundations, to make men                gen, als we bij elke verklaring van de verschillende tek-
less just as to God's time, less holy in his service and             sten terstond ons antwoord laten volgen.
therefore less happy. What saith the New Testament?                      Wij kunnen hier nog  we1 aanstonds  aan toevoegen,
"that he would grant. unto us, that we, being delivered dat de broeder  zich niet zeer streng gehouden heeft  aan
out of the land of our enemies, might serve him without              de verklaring der  teksten,  die wij hem  hadden  voorge-               .'
fear in holiness and righteousness before him all the                legd. In de meeste gevallen gaat hij maar wat wat over
days of our life." " Wherefore, receiving a kingdom which            onze teksten  heen,  om over iets anders te gaan  schrij-
cannot be moved, let us have grace whereby we may                    ven. Heel mat stof heeft  niets te  maken met hetgeen,
serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear: for waarover we van den broeder verklaring vroegen. Dit
our God is a consuming fire." He is a consuming fire -               is minder prijzenswaardig, vooral daar wij ons  we1  hieli
holy"`God  -and his jealousy burns  stili round His sanc-            den aan de verklaring der teksten,  `die de broeder meende
tuary and his day.                                                   te kunnen aanhalen ten  bewijze voor zijn beschouwing.
                                                        G.  Mi 0.    Doch we  zullen   alles   piaatsen.   ,De  lezer  oordeele dan
                                                                     zeIf.
                                                                         Aan  het'einde geeft  de schrijver ons te kennen, dat
                                                                     hij door onze gedachtenwisseling zeer is versterkt in zijn
                          ATTENTIE !                                 eigen beschouwing. Dit verwondert ons natuurlijk niet.
                                                                     Bij ons stond het eigenlijk reeds tamelijk vast, dat  dit
       Wij verzoeken beleefd  doch  dringend, dat  alle  leden       bij hem  we1 de vrucht zou zijn, eer we begonnen.  Of
en lezers van de Standard-Bearer zooveel mogelijk op                 hij echter  we1 reden  heeft om zoo versterkt zich te gevoe-
tijd hun leesgelden  willen   betalen.  Dit vergemakkelijkt len, laten we gaarne aan het oordeel onzer lezers over:
het werk van den penningmeester en van de agenten.                       Ook vinden we het niet een blijk van kracht, dat de
       De gelden  kunnen  aan den penningmeester of aan de           broeder nu in eens afscheid van ons wil nemen en verder
agenten   worden  verzonden.                                         niet wil schrijven. Immers, wij hebben te kennen  gege-
                                                                     ven, dat wij nog veel meer hebben, waarover we van den
                    Namens de finantieele Commissie,                 broeder we1 eens zijn licht wilden zien. Maar ieder blijve
                                                                     vrij. Hij heeft dan  tech alle ruimte en gelegenheid  ge-
                                                  de Secretaris.     had in ons blad, die hij zelf wenschte. Hierover kan in
                                                                     elk  geval  geen  klacht zijn.zijnerzijds.
                                                                             Hier  volgt het eerste stuk  ouer  Rom.  9:13 en Mal.  1  :'
                        A T T E N T I O N !                          q-4.

         We kindly ask all members and readers of the Stand-         Zeer geachte Redacteur :
ard-Bearer to pay for Subscriptions promptly on time.                         We  willen  hiermede  aan onze belofte voldoen, en
This will facilitate the work of the treasurer and of the            trachten naar aanleiding van uw verzoek, een antwoord
agents.                                                              te geven op de vragen ons voorgelegd.
                            The financial committee,                          We schrijven de teksten maar  niet  af, omreden dit
                                                                     nog al wat plaatsruimte vraagt. We vertrouwen, dat de-
                                                 per secretary.      genen die belang  in onze gedachtenwisseling stellen zich
                                                   .


                                                                                                                              ,

                                            T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A K E R                                                  429

                 THE SEVEN CHURCHES IN ASIA                          become manifest to the world and to the devil and thus
                     The Church in Tribulation                       his own name may be glorified. And to be worthy to
                                                                     be thus tried, to be deemed worthy of being  manifesta-
                     (Continued from page 40.5)                      tiong  of God's grace over against,.tlie  devil and the wicked
                                                                     world, is a cause of joy and a source of mighty comfort.
        This apprehension of suffering the Lord corroborates           And finally, the Lord encourages his church with  a
     in his letter to them. And not only does He caution             view to the coming suffering by  ,informing  them as to
     them in advance so that they may be fully prepared, but         the time of its duration. They shall be in tribulation
     He also comforts and encourages them to face the future         ten days. This measure of time has symbolic signifi-
/    without fear. In the first place by assuring them that it       cance, for even though this period should be understood
     will be the devil that is the prime author of their tribula-    in the literal sense in the first place as applied to the
     tion. Surely, they will be cast into prison and for ten         congregation of Smyrna, the symbolical significance
     days they shall have tribulation, but they need not be          would by no means be excluded, no more than the recog-
     ashamed of their reproach and suffering, nor need they          nition of the historical existence of the seven churches
     fear. On the contrary, they may deem it an honor to             prevents us from considering them in.their typical char-
     be in oppression for the simple reason that it is the devil     acter in relation to the church of all times. But besides,
     who causes it all. Indeed, this is a glorious comfort to        it may safely be adopted as a general rule that the indi-
     know that the devil is persecuting us. To suffer persecu-       cations of' time and space in the book of Revelation are
     tion from the hand of righteousness and justice is un-          to be taken in the symbolical sense of the word. Not
     bearable, but to be an object of the devil's hatred is a        all the numbers occurring in thk book can possibly be
     cause of rejoicing. Perhaps these Christians in Smyrna          taken in the literal sense, but on the general basis that
     will be treated by the civil powers in the city as crim-        `they are symbolic of some higher spiritual reality they
     inals and rebels and before all the world they will be          can all he interpreted. And, therefore, also these ten
     branded as such, but they must be mindful of the fact that      days we take in its symbolical sense. And t&en  we agree
     behind these municipal authorities and behind the malig-        with interpreters in understanding this expression as be-
     nant Jews is the devil, instigating his agents to their         ing indicative in the first place of only a short period.
     hellish work. It might be grievous to them to be pub-           But the brevity of the period is not to be found in  the
     licly exposed and treated as dangerous criminals, but to        number  10: for in itself this number may indicate a long
     know that the devil was behind it must for them be a            as well as a short period of time. No, that the time of
     cause of serene satisfaction; for  tci be an enemy of the       their persecution will be comparatively short, though
     devil is to be a friend of Christ; to be persecuted by          severe, is expressed rather by the fact that it is measured
     the adversary is the best proof of our belonging to God's       not by years or months,  b`ut  ,by days.      In comparison
     party in the world.                                             with the glory that  .shall be revealed in us, the Apostle
        In the second place, the Lord encourages them by             Paul has it, the suffering of the present time is not
     informing them concerning the essential character "of           worthy of consideration (Rom. 8  :18). When viewed in
     their future sugeiing.    They will be cast into prison in      the light of the ages the tribulation of the church in this
     order to be tried. Not, indeed, as if this was the devil's      dispensation is always insignificantly short. So also in
     purpose, for his highest aim was their apostacy  from the       Smyrna.  It`will last but ten days.
     truth. . But above the devil stands the Almighty God,              But the figure 10 impIies  a far greater comfort and is
     and the powerful Priest-King walks in the midst of the          symbolic of a far higher reality than the mere fact of
     seven golden candlesticks. His purpose will after all be        brevity. Ten is  a number that  ik very frequently em-
     reached.     And therefore, also by this explanation the        ployed in Scripture and often occurs in the book of Reve-
     Lord encourages his church.. In the first place, because        lation. The antedeluvian period is comprised by the life-
     in this phrase they hav,e the assurance that they are not       time of ten patriarchs; before the heart of the king of
     unconditionally delivered to the power of the devil, but        Egypt is inclined to let the children of Israel go to serve
     safe in the hands of their Lord. He only employs  the,          their God ten great plagues are sent upon the  co:lntry;
     devil even in persecution to reach his own divine pur-          life in its totality is measured by ten great spheres indi-
     pose. And, secondly, this is a source of comfort to them,       cated by the division of the law into ten commandments:
     because it assures them that they shall be faithful to the      the Lord in his parables speaks of ten virgins and of
     end through the grace of their Lord. It will not be their       servants entrusted with ten pounds whom He will place
     downfall. In their own strength they would never be             over ten cities. In the book of Revelation we read bf ten
     able to stand persecution.                                      horns of the great red dragon, of the ten horns of  .the
        And as they consider themselves fear, no doubt, fills        beast and his ten royal diadems, of  the!  ten kings that
     their hearts that they shall become unfaithful and deny         shall hate the harlot with whom they first commit forni-
     Him whom their soul loves. But now they are informed            cation (Chapters 13, 17). Now, if we consider this num-
     that this will not be the ultimate outcome of this per-         ber in the abstract there can be no question  c;f the fact
     secution. Tt will assume the nature of a trial. God will        that it is a round number, that whatever other number
     try his people in order that the strength of his grace may      is multiplied by it must also be a round number, and


     430         "                           T H E   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R

     that as such it beautifully `serves' as a symbol of com-       cater to the desires of the enemy  ? Never! Exactly the
     pleteness and fulness.                                         reverse is true, The condition in the congregation of
     j  `But if we consider the passages in which it is  em-        Smyrna was as good as possible. The church was in as
     .ployed we soon find that there is still a more specific       flourishing condition as might be expected in this dis-
     significance attached to the number ten. The general           pensation.     In proof of this there is in' the first place the
     idea that lies at the basis of its employment in Scripture     negative observation that the Lord in this letter men-
     seems to be that of a fulness, completion, totality of the     tions no cause for rebuke in the church. He does not
     measure of anything, whether it be of time or power or         come with his warning, "But I have against thee * * * *"
     action, of reward or punishment, determined solely by          And surely this is sufficient to justify the inference that
     the fixed plan of God Almighty. And, therefore, in our         there was nothing worthy of rebuke. If there had been,
     text it denotes neither that the time shall either be long     the Lord would have called the attention of the church
     or short nor that the evil one shall be permitted to           to it. He was thoroughly acquainted with the condition
     develop his full power in persecuting the church of            of the church, and if there had been any reason to re-
     Smyrna; but it simply indicates that a certain' definite       prove, He surely would have known.
     period is allotted the devil during which he may persecute         Nor must we entertain the erroneous idea that the
     the church of Christ, a period. that is determined not by      Lord would have overlooked the weakness of this specific
     himself but by the will of the Lord.                           congregation and pass it in silence in view of the fact
         The devil possesses no power of himself, "nor can he       that in its tribulation it had need of encouragement
     sovereignly decide upon the persecution of the Church.         rather, than of rebuke. This would have been fatal and
     His power and authority are characterized and symbol-          detrimental to the church. No, but there is nothing to
     ized by the number  10. It is both limited and meted           criticize.    There is no reason to reprimand the church
     out to him by God. It is always the same as in the case        in any respect. And again, also here we must remem-
     of the history of Job. The devil must approach God for         ber that it is not the individual member, but the church
     permission to afflict God's servant. And when the devil        as a whole Jesus is addressing. It is not so that the
     fails to induce Job to  apostacy  by depriving him of all      members of the congregation in Smyrna had already
     that he has in this world, he must again turn to the Most      reached perfection, that they sinned no more. No, but
      High for leave to continue and aggravate his attack upon      addressing the congregation as a whole the Lord finds
_    Job. The devil, therefore, can never proceed beyond the        no weakness, mentions no cause of rebuke for the simple
     limits set him by the hlmighty, neither can he reach any       reason that it did not exist.        The church of Smyrna
     other-end than the purpose of God in the affliction of His     possesses all the favorable features of the church in this
     people in the world.                                           dispensation and does not present any of the weaknesses
         Thus it is with the Church in Smyrna. And this is, and signs of degeneration found in the others. But,
     applicable to the persecution and suffering of the Church      further, this sound condition of the congregation is posi-
      of all ages. The devil possesses power to oppress the         tively expressed by the Lord when He says, "But thou
      Church, no doubt. He will make life hard for the faithful. art rich." Its condition is exactly the opposite of that
     in the world. He will rage against them in all his fury.       of the church in Laodicea. The latter was rich and luxur-
      We must expect this. But the blessed comfort for the          ious; filled to the full and'in need of nothing, suffered
      Church lies in the fact, that the power of darkness is        no.tribulation,  yet it was poor and naked in the con-
      under the absolute control and sovereignty' of Him that       sideration of Him that walketh in the midst of the-golden
      walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks.        candlesticks.
     The King of the Church has received all power in heaven            But the church of Smyrna is outwardly destitute, poor
      and on earth, power, too, to control the devil, the mighty    and despised, a social outcast, in the midst of tribulation
      adversary of Christ and His cause and His people in the       and with more severe persecution to be expected in the
      world. And when the full measure of his time and power        near future  ; yet it was rich spiritually, rich and abundant
      has been meted out to him according to the will of God,       in the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Nor is there any
      the Lord bids him stop and he can stir no more against        reason to limit this assertion of the Lord as to the con-
      the Church. What mighty comfort for the Church in             dition of the Church in Smyrna in any way. It implies
      tribulation! The devil can do her no harm,' but must          that it is rich in all the treasures and blessings of grace.
      serve the purpose of God in Christ! The gates of hell         Rich the church was in the knowledge of the truth, as
      cannot prevail against us! Under the mighty protec-           might be inferred even from the fact that it was faithful
      tion and care of her great King the Church has nothing        in the midst of trials. Rich it was in works and patience,
      to fear. "In the world ye shall have tribulation, but be      rich and strong in bearing the cross. Rich the church
      of good cheer, I have overcome the world !"                   was, undoubtedly, in that respect in which the congre-
         II. But, so we ask, what was the inward condition          gation of Ephesus was so fatefully weak ; it had not lost
      of this church in tribulation?    Does tribulation work       its first love as had the latter. Strong it was in the faith,
      dissatisfaction and grumbling, weakness and fear? Does        firm in hope, ardent in love, abounding in works, in afflic-
      it lead the church away from its Lord and cause it to         tion patient, in tribulation expectant of the day of deliver-
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                                         T H E '   S T A N D A R D   B E A R E R                                            431

 ante.  Rich in true, sound, experimental Christianity. I        when the storm of persecution sweeps through the church
 imagine it was a pleasure to make a house to house fam-         that the latter strikes the roots of  its',faith more deeply
 ily visitation through the church of Smyrna. The  mem-          into Christ and draws from Him more consciously  ,the
 bers were prepared to give testimony  ofI the hope that         very strength of its life. And, therefore, it is especially
 was within them at all times. They were rich in actual          in times of trouble that the church flourishes, for in
 fact. Though the world hated them, deprived them of             such times it is taught to cling to its powerful King
 their possessions, made them poor and naked and miser-          and seek its all in Him.
 able from the temporal pointof view, yet they knew that            And, finally, there is also a historical reason for this
 their King was Lord of heaven and earth,, and by faith          concurrence of tribulation and spiritual strength and
 they were saved in hope. Yea, indeed, the church in             prosperity in the church of Smyrna and with regard to
 tribulation is rich.                                            the church of Christ of all ages. In times of prosperity
    Not only is this applicable to the individual church         and wealth and peace, when the church is honored rather
 in Smyrna, but equally much to the church in tribulation        than despised in the world, there is a grave danger that
 of all ages. It has even become proverbial that the bIood       many an Israelite that is not spiritually of Israel be-
 of the martyrs has become the seed of the church in his-        comes member,of the church of Christ in the world, from
 tory. Never does the church offer a more miserable and          carnal motives and for selfish reasons.          It becomes a
 pitiable aspect than in times of prosperity in the world        matter of honor, or  ,even  of common decency to be a
 and peace and abundance ; never is its condition more           church-member. And so many join the'church. These
 precarious than when it caters to the good pleasure of          are a veritable danger to the church of Christ. They
 the world and craves for wealth and glory and honor             often become dominant. and assume leadership in the
 after the measure of the world.  The'church  of Laodicea        church.    They impose their carnal desires upon  *the
 is the warning example. But on the other hand' it is            church. They lead her into the world and, `of course,
 equally true  ~that the church is never more nearly  :per-      to destruction. They are of the world and would make
 feet in this dispensation than when it is called upon to        the church a part of the world. In times of persecu-
 fight the battle of  fa$ith,  to suffer and endure for the      tion, however, when church-membership and the re-
 Word of God and the testimony of Jesus.                         proach of Christ are inseparably  connecred,  this danger
    This is but natural. The question might be asked:            does not exist. On the contrary, when the faithful must
 Why is it that the church of Smyrna, that the church            suffer persecution and suffering for Christ's sake, the
in tribulation generally is so strong and rich? And the          church is cleansed of these hypocrites. They are exposed
 answer  is  not difficult.    In the first place there is no    in their carnal nature. If he must lose his life because
 doubt a theological reason. Scripture reveals to us that        of it, there is no danger that the hypocrite will join him-
 among the elect of God there are not many wise and              self to the church, or that he will remain in her midst.
 noble and rich in the world. God has chosen the foolish         And, therefore, also from this point `of view it is not
+ and the weak and the base things of this world, that           difficult to understand that in times of persecution and
 which was naught. And that for a very evident reason.           tribulation the church is spiritually blessed.
 The church does not esist for its own glory, but for the           And if, then, you ask, whether it were not expedient
 glory of God Almighty. And, therefore, the church does          to wilfully incite the malignity of the world and strive for
 not  e.xist  for the purpose of showing forth its own           the martyr's crown, we answer: there is absolutely no
 strength and abundance from a natural point of view,            occasion for any such thing. If the church is truly faith-
 but the grace and power of the Lord her God. This it            ful, faithful in its confession and in its walk, unfurling
 can do no more clearly than in times of tribulation, when       the banner of its King and walking in the light in  `the
 it becomes manifest that it possesses no resources, no          midst of a world that is in darkness, the latter will natur-
 strength, no faith, no hope outside of Christ, that its all     ally hate her, and the reproach and suffering from the
 is in Him, that from Him it receives its strength to            side of Anti-Christendom is inevitable. But'in all this we
 stand and be faithful.                                          need not be afraid, for especially the sufferings for
    Besides, there is also a spiritual reason why the church     Christ's sake work together for good to them that love
 in tribulation flourishes and is strong. The root of its        God, to them that are called according to God's purpose.
 life is faith, for by faith it is connected with Him that                           (To be continued)
 walks in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, by                                                                H. H.
 faith only, it receives all the treasures of salvation. The
 stronger and the more conscious this faith, the more
 the church will grow in grace and increase in all spiritual                  En wat zou mij hindren,              t
 riches in Christ. But what is more conducive to the                          `k Zie de uurtjes reeds mindren.
 exercise and strengthening of this faith than a period                          Laat wereldsch gedruisch
 of outward poverty and tribulation? It is when the                           Mijn moed niet verslappen;
 storm howls in the woods that the oak strikes its roots                      Nog weinige stappen,
 more firmly in the soil and is strengthened, So it is                           En dan ben ik t' huis.
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